entelechy
\en-TEL-uh-kee\
noun
1. a realization or actuality as opposed to a potentiality.
2. (in vitalist philosophy) a vital agent or force directing growth and life.
Quotes
Something abstruse from Aristotle haunts him, a distinction between the "generally" understood version of entelechy, meaning one's potential, and Aristotle's version, shading over into potential fulfilled.
-- Paul West, A Fifth of November, 2001
Origin
Entelechy is a term from Aristotelian philosophy and is formed from the Greek terms télos, "goal," and échein, "to have." It entered English around 1600.
Dictionary.com
