power

See also: Power

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

power

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• powre (obsolete)

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/, /ˈpaʊ̯.ə/
  • (with triphthong smoothing) IPA^(key): [ˈpʰaə], [ˈpʰaː], [ˈpʰɑː]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpaʊ̯.ɚ/, /ˈpaʊ̯ɹ/, [ˈpʰaʊ̯ɚ], [ˈpʰaʊ̯ɹ]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈpæʊ̯.ə/, [ˈpʰæʊ̯ə], [ˈpæɔ̯ə], [ˈpʰɛəː] (increasingly broader)
• Hyphenation: pow‧er
• Rhymes: -aʊ.ə(ɹ), -aʊə(ɹ)

Noun

power (countable and uncountable, plural powers)

1. The ability to do or undergo something.
   • 1950 September, “Network News: Watford Tunnel, L.M.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 641:

     On June 8, 1872, the London & North Western Railway obtained powers to quadruple its main line, and a new tunnel was bored for the up and down slow lines.

   • 2018, Marilyn McCord Adams, Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God, page 74:

     If it is spirits who have power to suffer, it seems they would also have active powers to think and will.

2. (social) The ability to coerce, influence, or control.
   • 2022 March 8, “Magistrate Yang Wen-ke Sends Female Staff in Hsinchu County Government Roses for Their Contributions”, in HsinChu County Government‎, archived from the original on 19 July 2022:

     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.

   1. (countable) The ability to affect or influence.
      • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book ii:

        An incident which happened about this time will set the characters of these two lads more fairly before the discerning reader than is in the power of the longest dissertation.

      • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book iii:

        Thwackum, on the contrary, maintained that the human mind, since the fall, was nothing but a sink of iniquity, till purified and redeemed by grace. […] The favourite phrase of the former, was the natural beauty of virtue; that of the latter, was the divine power of grace.

      • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:

        “ […] That woman is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh. Her own father recognised it when he bereft her of all power in the great business he founded. […]”

      • 1998, Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now:

        Past and future obviously have no reality of their own. Just as the moon has no light of its own, but can only reflect the light of the sun, so are past and future only pale reflections of the light, power, and reality of the eternal present.

   2. Control or coercion, particularly legal or political (jurisdiction).
      • 1949, George Orwell [pseudonym; George Orwell], Nineteen Eighty-Four:

        The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. [...] We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power.

      • 2005 April, Columbia Law Review:

        In the face of expanding federal power, California in particular struggled to maintain control over its Chinese population.

      • 2013 August 10, “Can China clean up fast enough?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8848:

        It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.

   3. (metonymically, chiefly in the plural) The people in charge of legal or political power, the government.

      Synonym: powers that be

      • 1978 November 17, 1:30:50 from the start, in The Star Wars Holiday Special‎ (Science Fiction), spoken by Carrie Fisher, →OCLC:

        No matter how different we appear, we're all the same in our struggle against the powers of evil and darkness. I hope that this day will always be a day of joy in which we can reconfirm our dedication and our courage and more than anything else, our love for one another. This is the promise of the Tree of Life.

   4. (metonymically) An influential nation, company, or other such body.
      • 2013 August 16, John Vidal, “Dams endanger ecology of Himalayas”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 10, page 8:

        Most of the Himalayan rivers have been relatively untouched by dams near their sources. Now the two great Asian powers, India and China, are rushing to harness them as they cut through some of the world's deepest valleys.

   5. (metonymically, archaic) An army, a military force.
      • 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC:

        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 carieng spoiles and preies.

      • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene i:

        Then when our powers in points of ſwords are ioin’d
        And cloſde in compaſſe of the killing bullet,
        Though ſtraite the paſſage and the port be made,
        That leads to Pallace of my brothers life,
        Proud is his fortune if we pierce it not.

3. (physical, uncountable) Effectiveness.

   She's a power shopper; she knows all the best deals.

   1. Physical force or strength.

      He needed a lot of power to hit the ball out of the stadium.

   3. Electricity or a supply of electricity.

      After the pylons collapsed, this town was without power for a few days.

      • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 4, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad‎:

        “My father had ideas about conservation long before the United States took it up. […] You preserve water in times of flood and freshet to be used for power or for irrigation throughout the year. […]”

      • 2013 July 20, “Out of the gloom”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

        [Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.

   4. A measure of the rate of doing work or transferring energy.
   5. The strength by which a lens or mirror magnifies an optical image.

      We need a microscope with higher power.

4. (colloquial, dated) A large amount or number.
   • 1872, Mark Twain, Roughing It:

     Don't you mind my snuffling a little—becuz we're in a power of trouble.

5. 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

6. (trucking) 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.

7. (physics, mechanics) 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.
8. (mathematics)
   2. A product of equal factors (and generalizations of this notion): ${\displaystyle x^{n}}$, read as "${\displaystyle x}$ to the power of ${\displaystyle n}$" or the like, is called a power and denotes the product ${\displaystyle x\times x\times \cdots \times x}$, where ${\displaystyle x}$ appears ${\displaystyle n}$ times in the product; ${\displaystyle x}$ is called the base and ${\displaystyle n}$ the exponent.
   3. (set theory) Cardinality.
   4. (statistics) The probability that a statistical test will reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true.
9. (biblical, in the plural) In Christian angelology, an intermediate level of angels, ranked above archangels, but exact position varies by classification scheme.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

Terms synonymous with one or more senses of power (noun)

• aptitude
• arm
• authority
• capability
• capacity
• clout
• command
• competence
• competency
• control
• dominion
• energy
• force
• grip
• hold
• influence
• main
• mastery
• might
• muscle
• potency
• pull
• sinew
• strength
• sway
• vigor
• wald
• weight

 

• See also Thesaurus:power

Antonyms

• impotence
• weakness

Hyponyms

• atomic power
• black power
• candlepower
• colonial power
• empower
• firepower
• flower power
• gray power
• grey power
• hard power
• horsepower
• hyperpower
• institutional power
• moral power
• nuclear power
• omnipower
• optical power
• personal power
• political power
• poor power
• power scaling
• running powers
• sea power
• social power
• soft power
• solar power
• superpower
• white power
• wind power

 

Derived terms

• active power
• agripower
• airpower
• antipower
• auxiliary power unit
• axiom of power set
• Axis power
• balance of power
• Banzhaf power index
• bargaining power
• battery power
• bepower
• biopower
• bipower
• bottom power
• brainpower
• brown power
• buying power
• candle power
• candlepower
• civil power
• clean power
• combined cycle power plant
• come to power
• cone of power
• copower
• corridors of power
• counterpower
• cyberpower
• depower
• dirty power
• donkeypower
• duckpower
• earning power
• earnings power
• effective radiated power
• electropower
• empower
• fire-power
• firm power
• Five Power Defence Arrangements
• formal power series
• girl power
• great power
• ground power
• gunpower
• higher power
• high-power
• horse-power
• horse power
• horsepower
• hydroelectric power
• hydropower
• inherent power
• in power
• knowledge is power
• labor power
• labour power
• lung-power
• lung power
• manpower
• market power
• micropower
• middle power
• military power
• mindpower
• more power to someone, more power to your elbow
• more power to your arm
• motive power
• motive power depot
• multipower
• necropower
• noise power
• nonfirm power
• nonpower
• non-powerlike
• nuclear power plant
• nuclear power station
• outpower
• overpower
• perfect power
• personpower
• person-power
• pester power
• phantom power
• Planck power
• police power
• powerable
• power adapter
• power adaptor
• power alley
• power animal
• power assist
• power-associative algebra
• power balance
• powerball
• power ballad
• powerband
• powerbank
• power bank
• power bar
• power base
• power behind the throne
• power board
• powerboat
• powerbomb
• power bottom
• power box
• power breakfast
• power brick
• power broker
• power-broker
• powerbroking
• power bump
• power button
• power cable
• power car
• power center
• power centre
• power chain
• powerchair
• power charger
• power chord
• power clean
• power cod
• power coffee
• power consumption
• power cord
• Power County
• power couple
• power creep
• power cut
• power-cycle
• power cycle
• power dissipation
• power distance
• power dive
• power domain
• power down
• power-dressed
• power dresser
• power dressing
• power drill
• power dynamics
• power egg, power-egg
• power electronics
• power equation
• power excursion
• power factor
• power failure
• power feminism
• Power Five
• power forward
• powerful
• power function
• power gamer
• power gap
• power grab
• power grid
• power hand
• power harrow
• powerhead
• power hitter
• power hockey
• powerholder
• powerholding
• power hour
• power house
• powerhouse
• power-hungry
• power-intensive
• power interruption
• power in the land
• power inverter
• powerish
• powerism
• powerist
• power jam
• power kerosene
• power kite
• power laces
• power law
• powerlaw
• power lead
• powerless
• power level
• powerlifter
• powerlifting
• powerlike
• power-line
• power-line communication
• power line communication
• powerline, power line
• power loom
• power lunch
• power metal
• power mic
• power mike
• power mod
• powermonger
• power move
• power nap
• power noise
• power of appointment
• power of attorney
• power off
• power of suggestion
• power of termination
• power of the pencil
• power of the purse
• power of yet
• poweroid
• power on
• power-operated
• power outage
• power pack
• power pill
• power plant
• powerplay, power play
• power point
• power pole
• power-political
• power politician
• power politics
• power pop
• power posing
• power projection
• power rack
• power satellite
• power saw
• power series
• power set
• powersharing, power-sharing, power sharing
• powershift
• power shovel
• powerslam
• powerslash
• power slide
• power snack
• powersome
• power source
• powersport
• powersports
• power spot
• power station
• power steering
• powers that be
• power strip
• power stroke
• power structure
• power struggle
• power suit
• power supply
• power surge
• power take-off
• power tap
• power tie
• power tiller
• power to gas
• power tool
• power toothbrush
• power top
• power tower
• powertrain
• power train
• power trio
• power trip
• power-tripper
• power-tripping
• powertrip, power-trip, power trip
• power unit
• power-up
• power user
• power vacuum
• powerviolence
• power walk
• power-walk
• powerwalk
• power wall
• powerwash
• power wash
• powerwasher
• power wheel
• power window
• power word
• powery
• pulling power
• purchasing power
• purchasing power parity
• Puretic power block
• pussy power
• reactive power
• refractive power
• regional power
• relocatable power tap
• repower
• residual power
• resolving power
• rest in power
• seapower
• sharp power
• sleeping power
• smart power
• spacepower
• space power system
• speak truth to power
• specific power
• spending power
• split-phase power
• statistical power
• staying power
• steam power
• stopping power
• storage power station
• subpower
• superpower
• super power
• talk truth to power
• technopower
• thermal design power
• thermopower
• tidal power
• to the power of
• ultrapower
• underpower
• uninterruptible power source
• uninterruptible power supply
• unpower
• warpower
• water power
• wave power
• will power
• willpower
• will-power
• will-to-power
• will to power
• windpower
• womanpower
• world power

 

Related terms

• possible
• potent

Collocations

Adjectives often used with "power"

electric, nuclear, optical, mechanical, political, absolute, corporate, institutional, military, economic, solar, magic, magical, huge, physical, mental, intellectual, emotional, spiritual, sexual, seductive, coercive, erotic, natural, cultural, positive, negative, etc.

Descendants

• → German: Power
• → Welsh: pŵer

Translations

power — see potency

capability or influence

Aklanon: gahom Albanian: pushtet (sq) m, fuqi (sq) Arabic: قُوَّة (ar) f (quwwa) Egyptian Arabic: قوة f (qowa, ʔowa) Hijazi Arabic: قوة f (guwwa) Armenian: իշխանություն (hy) (išxanutʻyun) Aromanian: puteare f Asturian: poder (ast) m Avar: гуж (guž) Azerbaijani: güc (az), qüdrət (az), qüvvə (az) Bashkir: ҡеүәт (qewət) Belarusian: ўла́да f (ŭláda), ула́да f (uláda) Bikol Central: urag (bcl) Bulgarian: власт (bg) f (vlast) Burmese: အာဏာ (my) (ana) Catalan: poder (ca) m Cebuano: gahom Chinese: Mandarin: 權力／权力 (zh) (quánlì), 權限／权限 (zh) (quánxiàn), 勢力／势力 (zh) (shìlì) (influence), 势力 (zh) (shìli) Czech: moc (cs) f Danish: magt c Dutch: macht (nl) f Egyptian: (wsrw) Esperanto: potenco (eo), povo Estonian: võim Extremaduran: poel Finnish: valta (fi), vaikutusvalta (fi), mahti (fi) French: pouvoir (fr) m, puissance (fr) f Friulian: podè Galician: poder (gl) Georgian: ძალაუფლება (ʒalaupleba), გავლენა (gavlena) German: Macht (de) f, Kraft (de) f Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌳𐌿𐍆𐌽𐌹 n (waldufni) Greek: ισχύς (el) f (ischýs) Guaraní: pu'aka Haitian Creole: pouvwa Hebrew: כוח \ כֹּחַ (he) m (kóakh) Hindi: शक्ति (hi) f (śakti) Hungarian: hatalom (hu) Ido: povo (io) Indonesian: kekuasaan (id) Irish: cumas (ga) m Italian: potere (it) m, influenza (it) f, capacità (it) f Japanese: 力 (ja) (ちから, chikara), 権力 (ja) (けんりょく, kenryoku), 勢力 (ja) (せいりょく, seiryoku) Kazakh: билік (kk) (bilık) Khmer: អំណាច (km) (ʼɑmnaac) Korean: 힘 (ko) (him), 권력(權力) (ko) (gwollyeok), 세력(勢力) (ko) (seryeok) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: توانا (twana) Northern Kurdish: hêz (ku) f, qewet (ku) f, zever (ku) f Kyrgyz: бийлик (ky) (biylik) Lao: ອາຍາ (ʼā nyā), ອາດຊະຍາ (ʼāt sa nyā), ອຳນາດ (ʼam nāt) Latgalian: vaļde f, vare f Latin: potestas (la) f, facultas (la) f, potentia, ars (la) f Latvian: vara (lv) f Lithuanian: valdžia (lt) f Macedonian: моќ f (moḱ), власт f (vlast) Malagasy: fianjadiana (mg) Malay: kuasa (ms) Manchu: ᡨᠣᠣᠰᡝ (toose) Maori: awenga Mbyá Guaraní: po'aka Mirandese: please add this translation if you can Mòcheno: kròft f Mongolian: Cyrillic: чадвар (mn) (čadvar) Norwegian: Bokmål: makt (no) m or f, innflytelse (no) m Occitan: poder (oc) m Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: власть f (vlastĭ) Old East Slavic: волость f (volostĭ) Old English: anweald m Old Prussian: warē Ottoman Turkish: مكنت (miknet) Pashto: قدرت (ps) m (qodrat), قوت (ps) m (quwat) Persian: قدرت (fa) (qodrat), قوت (fa) (qovvat) Plautdietsch: Krauft f Polish: władza (pl) f, moc (pl) f, możność (pl) f Portuguese: poder (pt) m Romanian: putere (ro) f Russian: власть (ru) f (vlastʹ), влия́ние (ru) n (vlijánije) Scottish Gaelic: cumhachd m or f Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: вла̑ст f Roman: vlȃst (sh) f Sicilian: putiri (scn) m Slovak: moc f Slovene: moč (sl) f Southern Altai: тап (tap), кӱч (küč) Spanish: poder (es) m, poderío m, potestad (es) f Swahili: nguvu (sw) Swedish: makt (sv) c Tajik: қудрат (tg) (qudrat), қувва (quvva) Tatar: куәт (tt) (quwät) Tausug: kusug Telugu: పలుకుబడి (te) (palukubaḍi) Thai: อำนาจ (th) (am-nâat) Tocharian B: maiyyo Turkish: güç (tr), kuvvet (tr) Turkmen: güýç Ugaritic: 𐎓𐎇 (ʿz) Ukrainian: вла́да (uk) f (vláda) Urdu: شکتی f (śakti), قوت f (quvvat) Uyghur: قۇدرەت (qudret), قۇۋۋەت (quwwet) Uzbek: qudrat (uz), quvvat (uz) Vietnamese: quyền lực (vi) Volapük: please add this translation if you can Welsh: pŵer (cy) m

control, particularly legal or political

Arabic: قُوَّة (ar) f (quwwa) Armenian: իշխանություն (hy) (išxanutʻyun) Belarusian: ула́да f (uláda) Bikol Central: urag (bcl) Bulgarian: власт (bg) f (vlast) Burmese: အာဏာ (my) (ana) Chinese: Mandarin: 政權／政权 (zh) (zhèngquán) Czech: moc (cs) f Dutch: macht (nl) f Egyptian: (wsrw) Extremaduran: poel Finnish: valta (fi), valtuus (fi) French: pouvoir (fr) m Galician: poder (gl) m Georgian: ძალაუფლება (ʒalaupleba) German: Macht (de) f Greek: ισχύς (el) f (ischýs) Ancient: κράτος n (krátos) Hebrew: כוח \ כֹּחַ (he) m (kóakh) סַמְכוּת (he) f (samkhút), שלטון m (shiltón) Hungarian: hatalom (hu) Ingrian: valta Italian: potere (it) m Japanese: 勢力 (ja) (せいりょく, seiryoku) Khmer: ការត្រួតត្រា (km) (kaa truət traa), អំណាច (km) (ʼɑmnaac) Korean: 세력(勢力) (ko) (seryeok) Lao: ອຳນາດ (ʼam nāt) Latin: potestās (la) f Latvian: vara (lv) f Lithuanian: valdžia (lt) f, galia (lt) f Macedonian: власт f (vlast) Middle English: empire, emperie Ngazidja Comorian: ezi class 9 Old Church Slavonic: владꙑчьство (vladyčĭstvo) Cyrillic: власть f (vlastĭ) Old East Slavic: волость f (volostĭ) Old English: anweald m Persian: قدرت (fa) (qodrat), قوت (fa) (qovvat) Polish: władza (pl) f Portuguese: poder (pt) m Romanian: putere (ro) f Russian: власть (ru) f (vlastʹ), могущество (ru) n (moguščestvo) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: вла̑ст f Roman: vlȃst (sh) f Sicilian: putiri (scn) m Slovak: moc f Slovene: moč (sl) f Spanish: postestad f Swedish: makt (sv) c Thai: อำนาจ (th) (am-nâat) Ukrainian: вла́да (uk) f (vláda) Vietnamese: thế lực (vi) Welsh: pŵer (cy) m

people in charge of legal or political power

Finnish: vallanpitäjät pl Greek: εξουσία (el) f (exousía), κράτος (el) n (krátos) Russian: власть (ru) f (vlastʹ) Sicilian: auturità f or f pl Turkish: iktidar (tr) Ukrainian: вла́да (uk) f (vláda) Welsh: pŵer (cy) m

influential nation, company etc.

Armenian: տերություն (hy) (terutʻyun) Bulgarian: си́ла (bg) f (síla) Catalan: potència (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 強國／强国 (zh) (qiángguó) Czech: mocnost (cs) f Dutch: grootmacht (nl), mogendheid (nl) f Finnish: suurvalta (fi) (nation); suuryhtiö (company); voimatekijä, mahti (fi), mahtitekijä (general) Galician: potencia (gl) f German: Macht (de) f, Großmacht (de) f Greek: δύναμη (el) f (dýnami) Hebrew: מַעֲצָמָה (he) f (ma'atsamá), עוצמה f ('otsmá) Hungarian: hatalom (hu) Irish: cumhacht f Italian: potenza (it) f Japanese: 権力 (ja) (けんりょく, kenryoku), 勢力 (ja) (せいりょく, seiryoku), 強国 (ja) (きょうこく, kyōkoku), 列強 (ja) (れっきょう, rekkyō) Kazakh: держава (derjava) Korean: 강국(強國) (gangguk) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: hêz (ku) f, zilhêz (ku) f Latin: potentia f Latvian: lielvalsts m Macedonian: сила f (sila) Malagasy: hery am-piharian-karena Marathi: सत्ता f (sattā) Norwegian: Bokmål: makt (no) m or f Persian: قدرت (fa) (qodrat) Polish: mocarstwo (pl) n, potęga (pl) f Portuguese: potência (pt) f Romanian: putere (ro) f Russian: держа́ва (ru) f (deržáva), си́ла (ru) f (síla) Sicilian: putènzia f Slovak: mocnosť f Slovene: sila (sl) f Spanish: potencia (es) f Telugu: సైనికబలము (sainikabalamu), ఆర్ధికబలము (ārdhikabalamu)

physical force or strength

Albanian: fuqi (sq) Arabic: قُوَّة (ar) f (quwwa), طَاقَة (ar) f (ṭāqa) Armenian: ուժ (hy) (už) Aromanian: puteari, puteare f, fortsã f, dinami, vãrtuti f Azerbaijani: güc (az) Bashkir: көс (kös) Bengali: জোর (bn) (jōr), তাকত (bn) (takot) Bulgarian: си́ла (bg) f (síla) Catalan: poder (ca) m, potència (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 力量 (zh) (lìliang), 能量 (zh) (néngliàng), 功率 (zh) (gōnglǜ) Czech: síla (cs) f Dutch: kracht (nl) f Esperanto: potenco (eo) Estonian: jõud Extremaduran: poel Fiji Hindi: taagat (hif) Finnish: voima (fi), vahvuus (fi), voimakkuus (fi) French: puissance (fr) f Galician: forza (gl) f Georgian: ძალა (ʒala), ღონე (ka) (ɣone) German: Kraft (de) f, Stärke (de) f Greek: δύναμη (el) f (dýnami) Ancient: δύναμις f (dúnamis) Hebrew: כוח \ כֹּחַ (he) m (kóakh) Hindi: शक्ति (hi) f (śakti), बल (hi) (bal), ताक़त (tāqat) Hungarian: erő (hu) Indonesian: kekuatan (id) Ingrian: voima, ramo Irish: cumhacht f Italian: potenza (it) f, forza (it) f Japanese: 力 (ja) (ちから, chikara) Khmer: កម្លាំង (km) (kɑmlang) Korean: 힘 (ko) (him), 역량(力量) (ko) (yeongnyang) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: زەبر (zebir), قووەت (quwet) Northern Kurdish: hêz (ku) f, qewet (ku) f, zever (ku) f Kyrgyz: күч (ky) (küc) Latgalian: spāks Latin: potentia f, vis (la) f Latvian: spēks (lv) Lithuanian: jėga f, galia (lt) f Macedonian: сила f (sila), моќ f (moḱ) Malagasy: hery (mg) Malay: kuasa (ms) Maranao: menang Marathi: शक्ती f (śaktī), ताकद f (tākad) Norwegian: Bokmål: kraft (no) m or f Oromo: humna Ottoman Turkish: قوت (kuvvet), مكنت (miknet), طاقت (takat) Persian: قدرت (fa) (qodrat), زور (fa) (zur), نیرو (fa) (niru) Plautdietsch: Krauft f Polish: siła (pl) f Portuguese: força (pt) f, potência (pt) f Romanian: putere (ro) f, forță (ro) f, tărie (ro) f Russian: си́ла (ru) f (síla), мощь (ru) f (moščʹ) (obsolete), дурь (ru) f (durʹ) (colloquial) Sanskrit: बल (sa) n (bala), सहस् (sa) n (sahas) Sicilian: putènzia f, forza (scn) f Sidamo: wolqa Slovak: sila f Slovene: moč (sl) f Somali: quwad, xoog Spanish: potencia (es) f, poder (es) m Swahili: nguvu (sw) Swedish: kraft (sv) c Tagalog: lakas (tl) Telugu: శక్తి (te) (śakti), బలము (te) (balamu) Thai: แรง (th) (rɛɛng), กำลัง (th) (gam-lang) Tocharian B: warkṣäl Turkish: güç (tr) Urdu: طاقت, قوت (qot), شکتی f (śakti) Welsh: pŵer (cy) m Yakut: күүс (küüs)

electricity, electricity supply

Arabic: طَاقَة كَهْرَبَائِيَّة f (ṭāqa kahrabāʔiyya) Armenian: էլեկտրականություն (hy) (ēlektrakanutʻyun), հոսանք (hy) (hosankʻ) (colloquially) Belarusian: электры́чнасць f (eljektrýčnascʹ), эне́ргія f (enjérhija), энэ́ргія f (enérhija), ток m (tok) Bulgarian: мо́щност (bg) f (móštnost) Burmese: အာနုဘော် (my) (anu.bhau) Chinese: Mandarin: 電力／电力 (zh) (diànlì) Czech: elektřina (cs) f, proud (cs) m Danish: elektricitet (da) c, el (da) c, strøm (da) c, kraft (da) c Dutch: voeding (nl) m, toevoer (nl) m, stroom (nl) m, (These may all be preceded by elektrische) spanning (nl) f, elektriciteit (nl) f Faroese: streymur m Finnish: sähkö (fi) (electricity); sähköt (fi) pl, sähkönsyöttö, virta (fi) (supply) French: électricité (fr) f, courant (fr) m Galician: corrente (gl) f, luz (gl) f, electricidade (gl) f Georgian: დენი (deni) German: Strom (de) m, Energie (de) f Greek: ρεύμα (el) f (révma), ηλεκτρισμός (el) m (ilektrismós) Hebrew: חַשְׁמַל (he) m (khashmál) Indonesian: daya (id) Italian: elettricità (it) f, corrente (it) f, energia (it) f Japanese: 電力 (ja) (でんりょく, denryoku) Khmer: ថាមពល (km) (thaamaʼpŭəl) Korean: 전력(電力) (ko) (jeollyeok) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: کارەبا (kareba) Northern Kurdish: hêz (ku) f, kareba (ku) f, elektrîk (ku) f Lao: ໄຟຟ້າ (lo) (fai fā), ພະລັງງານ (lo) (pha lang ngān) Latgalian: elektreja f Latvian: elektrība f Macedonian: електриците́т m (elektricitét), струја (mk) f (struja) Malagasy: herinaratra (mg) Norwegian: Bokmål: kraft (no) m Polish: zasilanie (pl) n Portuguese: força (pt) f, corrente (pt) f, eletricidade (pt) f Romanian: electricitate (ro) f, curent electric (ro) m Russian: электри́чество (ru) n (elektríčestvo), ток (ru) m (tok) (colloquial), пита́ние (ru) n (pitánije), эне́ргия (ru) f (enɛ́rgija) Sicilian: currenti f, enirgìa f, elittricità f Spanish: corriente (es) f, electricidad (es) f Swedish: elektricitet (sv) c, el (sv) c, kraft (sv) c, ström (sv) c Telugu: కరెంటు (kareṇṭu), కరెంట్ (kareṇṭ) Thai: ไฟ (th) (fai), ไฟฟ้า (th) (fai-fáa), พลังงาน (th) (pá-lang-ngaan) Ukrainian: еле́ктрика f (eléktryka), ене́ргія f (enérhija), струм m (strum), електроене́ргія f (elektroenérhija), електропостача́ння n (elektropostačánnja) Vietnamese: điện lực (vi)

physics: measure of the rate of doing work or transferring energy

Armenian: հզորություն (hy) (hzorutʻyun) Bashkir: ҡеүәт (qewət) Belarusian: пату́жнасць f (patúžnascʹ) Bulgarian: мо́щност (bg) f (móštnost) Chinese: Mandarin: 功率 (zh) (gōnglǜ) Czech: výkon (cs) m Dutch: vermogen (nl) Esperanto: povumo Estonian: võimsus Finnish: teho (fi) French: puissance (fr) f Galician: potencia (gl) f German: Leistung (de) f Greek: ισχύς (el) f (ischýs) Hebrew: הֶסְפֵּק (he) m (hespék) Hungarian: teljesítmény (hu) Italian: potenza (it) f Japanese: 仕事率 (ja) (しごとりつ, shigotoritsu) Korean: 일률(率) (ko) (illyul) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: hêz (ku) f Latin: potentia f Macedonian: моќ f (moḱ) Malagasy: herin'angôvo Malay: kuasa (ms) Norwegian: Bokmål: kraft (no) m or f, effekt m Persian: توان (fa) (tavân) Polish: moc (pl) f Portuguese: potência (pt) f Romanian: putere (ro) f, randament (ro) n, potență (ro) f Russian: мо́щность (ru) f (móščnostʹ) Sicilian: putènzia f Slovak: sila f Slovene: moč (sl) f Spanish: potencia (es) f Swedish: effekt (sv) c Tagalog: isog Thai: กำลัง (th) (gam-lang), พลัง (th) (pá-lang) Turkish: güç (tr) Ukrainian: поту́жність f (potúžnistʹ)

physics: rate to magnify an optical image

Belarusian: пату́жнасць f (patúžnascʹ) Bulgarian: увеличе́ние (bg) n (uveličénie) Chinese: Mandarin: 放大率 (zh) (fàngdàlǜ) Czech: mohutnost (cs) f Dutch: vergroting (nl) f Finnish: suurennus (fi) Greek: μεγεθυντική ικανότητα f (megethyntikí ikanótita) Italian: potere (it) m Japanese: 倍率 (ja) (ばいりつ, bairitsu) Korean: 배율(倍率) (ko) (baeyul) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: hêz (ku) f Latgalian: veice f Latvian: jauda f Macedonian: моќ f (moḱ) Norwegian: Bokmål: forsterkning m or f Persian: توان (fa) (tavân) Portuguese: potência (pt) f Romanian: mărire (ro) f Russian: мо́щность (ru) f (móščnostʹ) Swedish: styrka (sv) c, förstoring (sv) c Ukrainian: поту́жність f (potúžnistʹ)

maths: product of equal factors

Armenian: աստիճան (hy) (astičan) Azerbaijani: qüvvət (az) Bashkir: дәрәжә (dərəjə) Belarusian: ступе́нь f (stupjénʹ) Bulgarian: сте́пен (bg) f (stépen) Chinese: Mandarin: 冪／幂 (zh) (mì), 次方 (zh) (cìfāng) Czech: mocnina (cs) f Dutch: macht (nl) f Esperanto: potenco (eo) Finnish: potenssi (fi) French: puissance (fr) f Galician: potencia (gl) f German: Potenz (de) f, (x hoch n) Greek: δύναμη (el) f (dýnami) Ancient: δύναμις f (dúnamis) Hebrew: חֶזְקָה (he) f (khezká) Hindi: घात (hi) (ghāt) Hungarian: hatvány (hu) Irish: cumhacht f Italian: potenza (it) f Japanese: 乗 (ja) (じょう, jō), 冪 (ja) (べき, beki), 累乗 (ja) (るいじょう, ruijō), 冪乗 (ja) (べきじょう, bekijō) Kazakh: дәреже (däreje) Korean: 거듭제곱 (geodeupjegop) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: jorjimar f Latin: potentia f Macedonian: степен m (stepen) Malagasy: toraka (mg), tora- (mg) Norwegian: Bokmål: potens m Nynorsk: potens m Persian: توان (fa) (tavân) Polish: potęga (pl) f Portuguese: potência (pt) f Romanian: putere (ro) f, potență (ro) f Russian: сте́пень (ru) f (stépenʹ) Sicilian: putènzia f Slovak: mocnina f Slovene: potenca f Spanish: potencia (es) f Swedish: potens (sv) c Tagalog: lambal Thai: เลขยกกำลัง Turkish: üs (tr), kuvvet (tr) Ukrainian: сте́пінь m (stépinʹ)

set theory: cardinality — see cardinality

statistics: probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis

Finnish: voimakkuus (fi) French: puissance (fr) Italian: potenza (it) Portuguese: potência (pt) Spanish: potencia (es), poder (es) Swedish: styrka (sv) c

biblical: level of angels

Dutch: machten (nl) Finnish: voima (fi) Greek: δυνάμεις (el) f pl (dynámeis) Hebrew: כֹּחַ (he) m (kóach) Italian: potenze celesti f pl Japanese: 能天使 (ja) (のうてんし, nōtenshi) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: hêz (ku) f Portuguese: potestade (pt) m Spanish: potestad (es) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Gothic: (please verify) 𐌼𐌰𐌷𐍄𐍃 f (mahts) Romanian: (please verify) putere (ro) f Spanish: (please verify) poder (es) m Tibetan: (please verify) མཐུ (mthu)

See also

Other terms used in arithmetic operations:

• successor
• addition, summation:

  (augend) + (addend) = (total)

  (summand) + (summand) + (summand)... = (sum)

• subtraction:

  (minuend) − (subtrahend) = (difference)

• multiplication, factorization:

  (multiplier) × (multiplicand) = (product)

  (factor) × (factor) × (factor)... = (product)

• division:

  (dividend) ÷ (divisor) = (quotient)

  (numerator) / (denominator) = (quotient)

  Or sometimes = (quotient) with (remainder) remaining

• exponentiation:

  (base) ^(exponent) = (power)

• root extraction:

  ^(degree) √ (radicand) = (root)

• logarithmization:

  log_(base) (antilogarithm) = (logarithm)

Advanced hyperoperations: tetration, pentation, hexation

Verb

power (third-person singular simple present powers, present participle powering, simple past and past participle powered)

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.
   • 2011 February 1, Mandeep Sanghera, “Man Utd 3 - 1 Aston Villa”, in BBC‎:

     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.
   • 2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in the Guardian‎:

     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.
   • 2019 January 16, “Ashleigh Barty loses coach but wins latest Australian Open encounter”, in The Guardian‎:

     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.

Derived terms

• empower
• power ahead
• power down
• power through
• power up

Translations

to provide power for

Armenian: սնուցել (hy) (snucʻel) Catalan: alimentar (ca) Czech: napájet, pohánět (cs) Dutch: voeden (nl) Finnish: toimia (fi) French: alimenter (fr) Greek: κινώ (el) (kinó), τροφοδοτώ (el) (trofodotó) Italian: alimentare (it) Japanese: 供給する (きょうきゅうする, kyōkyū-suru) Macedonian: напојува (napojuva) Polish: zasilać (pl) Portuguese: alimentar (pt) Slovak: napájať Slovene: napajati Spanish: alimentar (es) Telugu: బలపచు (balapacu) Turkish: güç sağlamak Welsh: pweru

to hit or kick something forcefully

Finnish: pamauttaa (fi); survoa (fi) Italian: tirare (it)

to enable or provide the impetus for

Italian: azionare (it) Spanish: potenciar (es) Vietnamese: nhờ (vi)

Adjective

power (comparative more power, superlative most power)

1. (Malaysia, Singapore, colloquial) Impressive.
   • 2001, Thian, Makan Time‎:

     Check out the POWER Mee Rebus & Lontong in this newly established Nasi Padang coffee shop at Market Street Carpark.

   • 2005, Bayya, Bayya Eats ... and Other Stuff‎:

     Their performance is very the Power!

   • 2010, Caihong Lim, Kesheng Lim, Footprints All Over: Love, Happiness,Joy‎:

     His hokkien is damn power lah!

   • 2015, SGMOJI, Your Ultimate Guide to Locally-Grown Emojis‎, archived from the original on 4 March 2016:

     Eh his soccer skills damn power one.

Interjection

power

1. (Philippines, colloquial) cheer used to express support (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?)

Further reading

• “power”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• powre

German

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French pauvre, from Latin pauper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpoːvər/, [ˈpoːvɐ]
• Hyphenation: po‧wer

Adjective

power (strong nominative masculine singular powerer, comparative powerer, superlative am powersten)

1. (regional, informal) poor, miserable

Declension

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist power	sie ist power	es ist power	sie sind power
strong declension (without article)	nominative	powerer	powere	poweres	powere
	genitive	poweren	powerer	poweren	powerer
	dative	powerem	powerer	powerem	poweren
	accusative	poweren	powere	poweres	powere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der powere	die powere	das powere	die poweren
	genitive	des poweren	der poweren	des poweren	der poweren
	dative	dem poweren	der poweren	dem poweren	den poweren
	accusative	den poweren	die powere	das powere	die poweren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein powerer	eine powere	ein poweres	(keine) poweren
	genitive	eines poweren	einer poweren	eines poweren	(keiner) poweren
	dative	einem poweren	einer poweren	einem poweren	(keinen) poweren
	accusative	einen poweren	eine powere	ein poweres	(keine) poweren

Positive forms of power

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist powerer	sie ist powerer	es ist powerer	sie sind powerer
strong declension (without article)	nominative	powererer	powerere	powereres	powerere
	genitive	powereren	powererer	powereren	powererer
	dative	powererem	powererer	powererem	powereren
	accusative	powereren	powerere	powereres	powerere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der powerere	die powerere	das powerere	die powereren
	genitive	des powereren	der powereren	des powereren	der powereren
	dative	dem powereren	der powereren	dem powereren	den powereren
	accusative	den powereren	die powerere	das powerere	die powereren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein powererer	eine powerere	ein powereres	(keine) powereren
	genitive	eines powereren	einer powereren	eines powereren	(keiner) powereren
	dative	einem powereren	einer powereren	einem powereren	(keinen) powereren
	accusative	einen powereren	eine powerere	ein powereres	(keine) powereren

Comparative forms of power

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am powersten	sie ist am powersten	es ist am powersten	sie sind am powersten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	powerster	powerste	powerstes	powerste
	genitive	powersten	powerster	powersten	powerster
	dative	powerstem	powerster	powerstem	powersten
	accusative	powersten	powerste	powerstes	powerste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der powerste	die powerste	das powerste	die powersten
	genitive	des powersten	der powersten	des powersten	der powersten
	dative	dem powersten	der powersten	dem powersten	den powersten
	accusative	den powersten	die powerste	das powerste	die powersten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein powerster	eine powerste	ein powerstes	(keine) powersten
	genitive	eines powersten	einer powersten	eines powersten	(keiner) powersten
	dative	einem powersten	einer powersten	einem powersten	(keinen) powersten
	accusative	einen powersten	eine powerste	ein powerstes	(keine) powersten

Superlative forms of power

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpaʊ̯ər/, [ˈpaʊ̯ɐ]
• Homophone: Power

Verb

power

1. singular imperative of powern
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of powern

Further reading

• “power” in Duden online
• “power” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache