Power

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power¹

  • /ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/ UK
  • /ˈpaʊ̯.ə/ UK
  • [ˈpʰaə]
  • [ˈpʰaː]
  • [ˈpʰɑː]
  • /ˈpuː.ɐ/ Northumbria
  • /ˈpaʊ̯.ɚ/ US
  • /ˈpaʊ̯ɹ/ US
  • [ˈpʰaʊ̯ɚ] US
  • [ˈpʰaʊ̯ɹ] US
  • /ˈpæʊ̯.ə/ Australia, New Zealand
  • [ˈpʰæʊ̯ə] Australia, New Zealand
  • [ˈpæɔ̯ə] Australia, New Zealand
  • [ˈpʰɛəː] Australia, New Zealand
  • /ˈpaʊ̯.(ə)ɹ/ Canada
  • [p(ʰ)äʊ̯(ə)ɹ] Canada
  • /ˈpʌʊ̯.(ə)ɹ/ dialectal
  • [p(ʰ)əw(ə)ɹ] dialectal

Rhymes with -aʊ.ə(ɹ), -aʊə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *pótis

Proto-Italic *potis

Proto-Indo-European *h₁es-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti

Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-

Proto-Indo-European *-t

Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt

Proto-Italic *som

Proto-Italic *possom

Latin posseder.

Vulgar Latin potēre

Old French pooir

Anglo-Norman poerbor.

Middle English power

English power

From Middle English power, poer, from Old French poeir, from Vulgar Latin potēre, from Latin posse, whence English potent. Compare French pouvoir. Displaced the native Old English anweald.

noun powers · powre

  1. countable, uncountable The ability to do or undergo something. He has lost the power to speak.
  2. countable, uncountable The ability to coerce, influence, or control. The proportion of female colleagues in the Hsinchu County Government and its affiliated units has reached 61%. “Women Power” is the power behind over half of the services provided by the county government.
  3. countable The ability to affect or influence. the power of the written word
  4. countable, uncountable The ability or authority to control, govern, command, coerce, etc., such as in a legal, political or business sphere. He's nominally president, but he does not have any real power.
  5. countable, in plural, metonymically, uncountable The people in charge of legal or political power, the government.
  6. countable, metonymically, uncountable A strong or influential nation, company, or other such body. In the 19th century, Britain and France were major colonial powers.
  7. archaic, countable, metonymically, uncountable An army, a military force. The threatning words of duke Robert comming at the last to king Henries eares, caused him foorthwith to conceiue verie sore displeasure against the duke, in so much that he sent ouer a power of men into Normandie, which finding no great resistance, did much hurt in the countrie, by fetching and cari
  8. countable, physical, uncountable Physical force or strength. He needed a lot of power to hit the ball out of the stadium.
  9. attributive, countable, physical, uncountable Designating one who does something forcefully or on a large or grand scale. She's a power shopper; she knows all the best deals.
  10. countable, physical, uncountable The production or flow of energy providing means to do work; energy per time unit. The power to haul the train is supplied by two huge locomotives.
  11. countable, physical, specifically, uncountable Electricity or a supply of electricity. After the pylons collapsed, this town was without power for a few days.
  12. countable, physical, uncountable The rate at which work is done or energy is transferred, expressed in units of energy per unit of time. The kilowatt is a unit of power, equivalent to 1,000 joules of energy per second.
  13. countable, physical, uncountable The strength by which a lens or mirror magnifies an optical image. We need a microscope with higher power.
  14. colloquial, countable, uncountable A large amount or number. do a power of good
  15. countable, uncountable Any of the elementary forms or parts of machines: three primary (the lever, inclined plane, and pulley) and three secondary (the wheel-and-axle, wedge, and screw). the mechanical powers
  16. countable, uncountable A tractor. The set I'm making right now needs a power on it, but we don't have any tractors left in the yard.
  17. countable, uncountable A measure of the effectiveness that a force producing a physical effect has over time. If linear, the quotient of: (force multiplied by the displacement of or in an object) ÷ time. If rotational, the quotient of: (force multiplied by the angle of displacement) ÷ time.
  18. countable, uncountable A product of equal factors (and generalizations of this notion): xⁿ, read as "x to the power of n" or the like, is called a power and denotes the product x×x×⋯×x, where x appears n times in the product; x is called the base and n the exponent.
  19. countable, uncountable Cardinality.
  20. countable, uncountable The probability that a statistical test will reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true.
  21. countable, in plural, uncountable In Christian angelology, an intermediate level of angels, ranked above archangels, but exact position varies by classification scheme.
  22. countable, uncountable A bonus point awarded for answering correctly before a certain part of the tossup is read.

Similar: aptitude, arm, authority, capability, capacity, clout, command, competence, competency, control, dominion, energy

verb powers · powering · powered · powre

  1. transitive To provide power for (a mechanical or electronic device). This CD player is powered by batteries.
  2. transitive To hit or kick something forcefully. United keeper Edwin van der Sar was the unlikely provider as his clearance found Rooney, who had got ahead of last defender Richard Dunne, and the forward brilliantly controlled a ball coming from over his shoulder before powering a shot past Brad Friedel.
  3. To enable or provide the impetus for. Abdul Sattar Edhi came to Karachi as a poor man from an Indian village in 1947. Starting with a small pharmacy tent, his work rapidly expanded, powered by donations from ordinary citizens.
  4. intransitive To move or advance with great force or speed. Playing with freedom and no fear, Ashleigh Barty has powered into the Australian Open third round without even a coach. Barty clubbed China’s Yafan Wang 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday before revealing she had been largely flying solo during her charge to the last 32 for only the second time.

adjective more power · most power · powre

  1. Malaysia, Singapore, colloquial Impressive. Check out the POWER Mee Rebus & Lontong in this newly established Nasi Padang coffee shop at Market Street Carpark.

interjection powre

  1. Philippines, colloquial Used as a cheer to express support

Power²

Where it comes from

From power.

noun Powers

  1. A button of a computer, a video game console, or similar device, that when pressed, causes the device to be either shut down or powered up.

Power³

Where it comes from

* Habitational, from Old French Poer, Pohier, Middle English Poer, Pouer, Power, after the Pays de Poix (Picardy).

* From Middle English povre (“poor”) as a nickname for a poor man or ironically a miser. Compare Poor.

proper noun

  1. A surname. Although US officials have been sounding the alarm about the imminent risk of famine in the war-torn strip, USAID Administrator Samantha Power is the first official to publicly agree with an assessment that famine is already taking place.

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