As an adjective (as in "potential losses", "potential benefits", etc.), potential usually means simply "possible".

POTENTIAL definition: 1. possible when the necessary conditions exist: 2. someone's or something's ability to develop…. Learn more.

The inherent ability or capacity for growth, development, or future success: an investment with a lot of potential; a singer who has the potential to become a major star.

If you say that someone or something has potential for doing a particular thing, you mean that it is possible they may do it. If there is the potential for something, it may happen.

Electricity. electric potential ( def 1 ). Mathematics, Physics. a type of function from which the intensity of a field may be derived, usually by differentiation. The list of job applications has …

Definition of potential noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. [uncountable] the possibility of something happening or being developed or used. potential for doing something The European marketplace offers excellent potential for increasing sales.

If you can describe something as possible but not yet actual, choose the adjective potential. Companies try to reach potential customers through advertising.

In physics, a potential may refer to the scalar potential or to the vector potential. In either case, it is a field defined in space, from which many important physical properties may be derived.

Potential definition: Capable of being but not yet in existence; latent or undeveloped.

Britannica Dictionary definition of POTENTIAL 1 [ count ] : a chance or possibility that something will happen or exist in the future — usually singular — usually + for