Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Power \Pow"er\, n. (Zo["o]l.)
Same as {Poor}, the fish.
Power \Pow"er\, n. [OE. pouer, poer, OF. poeir, pooir, F.
pouvoir, n. & v., fr. LL. potere, for L. posse, potesse, to
be able, to have power. See {Possible}, {Potent}, and cf.
{Posse comitatus}.]
1. Ability to act, regarded as latent or inherent; the
faculty of doing or performing something; capacity for
action or performance; capability of producing an effect,
whether physical or moral: potency; might; as, a man of
great power; the power of capillary attraction; money
gives power. ``One next himself in power, and next in
crime.'' --Milton.
2. Ability, regarded as put forth or exerted; strength,
force, or energy in action; as, the power of steam in
moving an engine; the power of truth, or of argument, in
producing conviction; the power of enthusiasm. ``The power
of fancy.'' --Shak.
3. Capacity of undergoing or suffering; fitness to be acted
upon; susceptibility; -- called also {passive power}; as,
great power of endurance.
Power, then, is active and passive; faculty is
active power or capacity; capacity is passive power.
--Sir W.
Hamilton.
4. The exercise of a faculty; the employment of strength; the
exercise of any kind of control; influence; dominion;
sway; command; government.
Power is no blessing in itself but when it is
employed to protect the innocent. --Swift.
5. The agent exercising an ability to act; an individual
invested with authority; an institution, or government,
which exercises control; as, the great powers of Europe;
hence, often, a superhuman agent; a spirit; a divinity.
``The powers of darkness.'' --Milton.
And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
--Matt. xxiv.
29.
6. A military or naval force; an army or navy; a great host.
--Spenser.
Never such a power . . . Was levied in the body of a
land. --Shak.
Source : WordNet®
power
n 1: possession of controlling influence; "the deterrent power of
nuclear weapons"; "the power of his love saved her";
"his powerfulness was concealed by a gentle facade"
[syn: {powerfulness}] [ant: {powerlessness}, {powerlessness}]
2: (physics) the rate of doing work; measured in watts (=
joules/second)
3: possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities)
required to do something or get something done; "danger
heightened his powers of discrimination" [syn: {ability}]
[ant: {inability}]
4: a state powerful enough to influence events throughout the
world [syn: {world power}, {major power}, {great power}, {superpower}]
5: (of a government or government official) holding an office
means being in power; "being in office already gives a
candidate a great advantage"; "during his first year in
office"; "during his first year in power"; "the power of
the president" [syn: {office}]
6: one possessing or exercising power or influence or
authority; "the mysterious presence of an evil power";
"may the force be with you"; "the forces of evil" [syn: {force}]
7: physical strength [syn: {might}, {mightiness}]
8: a mathematical notation indicating the number of times a
quantity is multiplied by itself [syn: {exponent}, {index}]
9: a very wealthy or powerful businessman; "an oil baron" [syn:
{baron}, {big businessman}, {business leader}, {king}, {magnate},
{mogul}, {top executive}, {tycoon}]
power
v : supply the force or power for the functioning of; "The
gasoline powers the engines"
Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing
POWER
Performance Optimization with Enhanced RISC. The {IBM}
processor architecture on which {PowerPC} was based.