power

noun

The ability to do or undergo something.

(social) The ability to coerce, influence, or control.

(countable) The ability to affect or influence.

The ability or authority to control, govern, command, coerce, etc., such as in a legal, political or business sphere.

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

(metonymic) A strong or influential nation, company, or other such body.

(physical, uncountable) Strength, energy.

Physical force or strength.

(attributive) Designating one who does something forcefully or on a large or grand scale.

The production or flow of energy providing means to do work; energy per time unit.

(specifically) Electricity or a supply of electricity.

(physics) The rate at which work is done or energy is transferred, expressed in units of energy per unit of time.

The strength by which a lens or mirror magnifies an optical image.

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).

(trucking) A tractor.

(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.

(mathematics) 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.

(mathematics) (set theory) Cardinality.

(mathematics) (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.

(quiz bowl) A bonus point awarded for answering correctly before a certain part of the tossup is read.

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.

A surname.

(colloquial, dated outside the phrase 'power of good') A large amount or number.

(metonymic, archaic) An army, a military force.

verb

(transitive) To provide power for (a mechanical or electronic device).

(transitive) To hit or kick something forcefully.

To enable or provide the impetus for.

(intransitive) To move or advance with great force or speed.

adjective

(Malaysia, Singapore, colloquial) Impressive.

Roots

possepower- · Latin · to be able

Synonyms for power

powerfulnessn electricityn superpowern puissancen forcen abilityn mightinessn mightn energyn potencen strengthn potencyn authorityn puissantadj voltagen powerfuladj forcefulnessn cloutn

Synonyms & related words for power

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of power — including powerfulness, electricity, superpower, puissance, force, ability. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to power

Explore words related to power — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include plenipotent, megawattage, dynamotor, foison, wattage, electrodynamometer, hydropower, abwatt. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for power

Common synonyms for power include powerfulness, electricity, superpower, puissance, force, ability, mightiness, might — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does power come from?

The word power breaks down into one root of Latin origin: the root power-, from Latin posse (“to be able”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.