Powered
verbSupplied a machine, vehicle, or system with the energy needed to operate.
How to spell powered
7 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce powered
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does powered mean?
- verbSupplied a machine, vehicle, or system with the energy needed to operate.
- adjectiveDriven or operated by a specified source of energy.
Powered in a sentence
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verb
The diesel generator powered the entire site through the blackout.
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adjective
The new factory relies on solar powered machinery.
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verb
A single turbine powered the whole village for decades.
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adjective
She bought a battery powered lawn mower to avoid the cables.
Where does powered come from?
Language of origin: Latin
This is the past form of the verb 'power', which comes ultimately from the Latin posse, meaning 'to be able', and its later spoken form potere with the same sense. That verb passed into Old French as poeir or povoir, 'to be able', and the related noun came into English in the 1200s as the ability or strength to act or do something. The mechanical sense, supplying energy to drive a machine, grew up much later alongside engines and electricity in the industrial age. The spelling keeps the silent visual link to 'power', and the trap for writers is simply the -ered cluster, where the unstressed second syllable can blur. The same Latin posse survives openly in words such as 'possible' and 'potent', which all share the idea of being able.
How the word is built
- power (from Latin posse/potere: to be able)
- -ed (past tense / past participle and adjective suffix)
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