Category:Power

Pow"er, n. (zoöl.)

Defn: same as poor, the fish.

Power Pow"er, n. Etym: [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.

7. A large quantity; a great number; as, a power o. [colloq.] Richardson.

8. (mech.) (a) the rate at which mechanical energy is exerted or mechanical work Performed, as by an engine or other machine, or an animal, working Continuously; as, an engine of twenty horse power.

Note: the english unit of power used most commonly is the horse Power. See horse power. (b) a mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical energy is Derived; as, water power; steam power; hand power, etc. (c) applied force; force producing motion or pressure; as, the power Applied at one and of a lever to lift a weight at the other end.

Note: this use in mechanics, of power as a synonym for force, is Improper and is becoming obsolete. (d) a machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a motor to Drive other machinery; as, a dog power.

Note: power is used adjectively, denoting, driven, or adapted to be Driven, by machinery, and not actuated directly by the hand or foot; As, a power lathe; a power loom; a power press.

9. (math.)

Defn: the product arising from the multiplication of a number into Itself; as, a square is the second power, and a cube is third power, Of a number.

10. ( (metaph.)

Defn: mental or moral ability to act; one of the faculties which are Possessed by the mind or soul; as, the power of thinking, reasoning, Judging, willing, fearing, hoping, etc. I. Watts. The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of my powers, drove The grossness. . . into a received belief. Shak.

11. (optics)

Defn: the degree to which a lens, mirror, or any optical instrument, Magnifies; in the telescope, and usually in the microscope, the Number of times it multiplies, or augments, the apparent diameter of An object; sometimes, in microscopes, the number of times it Multiplies the apparent surface.

12. (law)

Defn: an authority enabling a person to dispose of an interest vested Either in himself or in another person; ownership by appointment. Wharton.

13. Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the business Was referred to a committee with power.

Note: power may be predicated of inanimate agents, like the winds and Waves, electricity and magnetism, gravitation, etc., or of animal and Intelligent beings; and when predicated of these beings, it may Indicate physical, mental, or moral ability or capacity. Mechanical Powers. See under mechanical. -- power loom, or power press. See def. 8 (d), note. -- power of attorney. See under attorney. -- power of a point (relative to a given curve) (geom.), the result Of substituting the coördinates of any point in that expression which Being put equal to zero forms the equation of the curve; as, x2 + y2 - 100 is the power of the point x, y, relative to the circle x2 + y2 - 100 = 0.