Power
Etymology
From Old French “poeir,” from Vulgar Latin “potere,” an alteration of Latin “posse” — “to be able.” At root it names sheer ability, not permission; the moral and legal questions we now attach to it were bolted on later.
noun · /POW-er/
The capacity to make things happen or to get others to act as you want, whether or not they agree.
What it names
Reach for it to name raw capacity to affect outcomes — before asking whether that capacity is rightful, which is a separate question.
Example
A troll with a million followers has real power over a conversation without holding any office.
Related idea
Power is the capacity to compel; authority is the recognized right to command. A mugger has power but no authority; a disobeyed regulator has authority but, in the moment, no power.
noun · /POW-er/
In mathematics, the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itself, written as an exponent.
What it names
an exponent
Example
Two to the power of three is eight.
Related idea
The result of raising a base — as in ‘ten to the third power’ — where the exponent is the small raised number that says how many times, and the power is the value that repeated multiplication produces.
noun · /POW-er/
Energy, especially electricity, supplied for work; the rate at which work is done.
What it names
usable energy or its rate of delivery
Example
The storm knocked out power to thousands; the engine makes more power at high revs.
Related idea
In physics, power is the rate at which energy is spent or work is done, not the energy itself — the same amount of energy used quickly is high power; spread slowly, low.
verb · /POW-er/
To supply with energy so as to operate.
What it names
the act of driving or energizing something
Example
The turbines power the entire city.
Related idea
To power a device is to keep it supplied with the energy that runs it — an engineer’s verb for the supplying, rather than the ‘capacity to make things happen’ of the first sense.
See also