Power

How to spell power

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce power

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does power mean?

1. nounThe ability to act or to control people, events, or resources.
2. nounElectrical or mechanical energy supplied to run machines and homes.
3. verbTo supply something with energy so it can operate.

Power in a sentence

• noun

  The committee has the power to approve the budget.

• noun

  The storm cut off power to half the town.

• verb

  A single battery can power the entire sensor for a year.

• noun

  She used her position of power to protect junior staff.

• noun

  The factory runs on solar power during the day.

• verb

  These turbines power thousands of homes across the valley.

Where does power come from?

Language of origin: French

Power came into English in the 1200s from Anglo-Norman and Old French poeir, also spelled povoir, which was originally a verb meaning 'to be able'. That French verb grew out of the Vulgar Latin potere, a reshaped form of classical Latin posse, 'to be able', from which we also get 'potent', 'possible', and 'potential'. In Old French the infinitive was pressed into service as a noun meaning 'ability' or 'might', and English borrowed it in that noun sense. Over the centuries the meaning fanned out from raw physical strength to political authority, legal right, and eventually mechanical and electrical energy. The unusual -ower spelling reflects the French vowel run that English simply kept rather than tidying up, which is why it rhymes with 'tower' and 'flower'.

How the word is built

• power (from Old French poeir/povoir: to be able), treated as a single root in modern English