Power (word)

This article is about Power (word). For other uses of the term Power, please see Power (disambiguation).

Power is a wide-ranging English word over-loaded with meanings in several different domains of knowledge, ranging from religion and mysticism, though politics, physics, and various aspects of modern American slang. The King James Bible, a translation which appeared in 1611, used the word power more than two hundred times. In the year 2000, the American Heritage Dictionary (3rd Ed.) provided only sixteen distinct definitions for the English word Power, a list which today seems almost inadequate:

1. The ability or capacity to perform or act effectively.
2. A specific capacity, faculty or aptitude. Often used in the plural.
3. Strength or force exerted or capable of being exerted; might. See synonyms at the entry for strength.
4. The ability or official capacity to exercise control; authority.
5. A person, group or nation having great influence or control over others.
6. The might of a nation, political organization, or similar group.
7. Forcefulness; effectiveness.
8. A large number or amount (chiefly used in Upper Southern USA).
9. The energy or motive force by which a physical machine is operated. The capacity of a machine to operate. Electrical or mechanical energy, especially as used to assist or replace human energy. Electricity supplied to a home, building or community.
10. In physics, the rate at which work is done , expressed as the amount of work per unit time and commonly measured in units such as watt or horsepower.
11. In electronics, The product of applied potential difference and current in a direct-current circuit. The product of the effective values of the voltage and current with the cosine of the phase angle between current and voltage in an alternating-current circuit.
12. In mathematics, the number of elements in a finite set. See exponent.