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.

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)

(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)

The ability to do or undergo something. [ quotations ▼]
(social) The ability to coerce, influence or control. [ quotations ▼]
1. (countable) The ability to affect or influence. [ quotations ▼]
2. Control or coercion, particularly legal or political (jurisdiction). [ quotations ▼]
3. (metonymically, chiefly in the plural) The people in charge of legal or political power, the government. [ synonym ▲][ quotations ▼]
  Synonym: powers that be
4. (metonymically) An influential nation, company, or other such body. [ quotations ▼]
5. (metonymically, archaic) An army, a military force. [ quotations ▼]
(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.
2. Electricity or a supply of electricity. [ quotations ▼]
  After the pylons collapsed, this town was without power for a few days.
3. A measure of the rate of doing work or transferring energy.
4. The strength by which a lens or mirror magnifies an optical image.
  We need a microscope with higher power.
(colloquial, dated) A large amount or number. [ quotations ▼]
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
(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.
(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: (forcemultiplied by the angle of displacement) ÷ time.
(mathematics)
1. A product of equal factors (and generalizations of this notion): $x^{n}$ , read as " ${\displaystyle x}$ to the power of ${\displaystyle n}$ " or the like, is called a power and denotes the product $x\times x\times \cdots \times x$ , where ${\displaystyle x}$ appears ${\displaystyle n}$ times in the product; ${\displaystyle x}$ is called the base and ${\displaystyle n}$ the exponent.
2. (set theory) Cardinality.
3. (statistics) The probability that a statistical test will reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true.
(biblical, in the plural) In Christian angelology, an intermediate level of angels, ranked above archangels, but exact position varies by classification scheme.

Synonyms

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