POW'ER, n. [The Latin has posse, possum, potes, potentia. The primary sense of the verb is to strain, to exert force.]

1. In a philosophical sense, the faculty of doing or performing any thing; the faculty of moving or of producing a change in something; ability or strength. A man raises his hand by his own power, or by power moves another body. The exertion of power proceeds from the will, and in strictness, no being destitute of will or intelligence, can exert power. Power in man is active or speculative. Active power is that which moves the body; speculative power is that by which we see, judge, remember, or in general, by which we think. Power may exist without exertion. We have power to speak when we are silent. – Locke. Reid. Power has been distinguished also into active and passive, the power of doing or moving, and the power of receiving impressions or of suffering. In strictness, passive power is an absurdity in terms. To say that gold has a power to be melted, is improper language, yet for want of a more appropriate word, power is often used in a passive sense, and is considered as two-fold; viz. as able to make or able to receive any change. – Cyc.
2. Force; animal strength; as, the power of the arm, exerted in lifting, throwing or holding.
3. Force; strength; energy; as, the power of the mind, of the imagination, of the fancy. He has not powers of genius adequate to the work.
4. Faculty of the mind, as manifested by a particular mode of operation; as, the power of thinking, comparing and judging; the reasoning powers.
5. Ability, natural or moral. We say, a man has the power of doing good; his property gives him the power of relieving the distressed; or, he has the power to persuade others to do good; or, it is not in his power to pay his debts. The moral power of man is also his power of judging or discerning in moral subjects.
6. In mechanics, that which produces motion or force, or which may be applied to produce it. Thus the inclined plane is called a mechanical power, as it produces motion, although this in reality depends on gravity. The wheel and axle, and the lever, are mechanical powers, as they may be applied to produce force. These powers are also called forces, and they are of two kinds, moving power, and sustaining power.
7. Force. The great power of the screw is of extensive use in compression. The power of steam is immense.
8. That quality in any natural body which produces a change or makes an impression on another body; as, the power of medicine; the power of heat; the power of sound.
9. Force; strength; momentum; as, the power of the wind, which propels a ship or overturns a building.
10. Influence; that which may move the mind; as, the power of arguments or of persuasion.
11. Command; the right of governing, or actual government; dominion; rule; sway; authority. A large portion of Asia is under the power of the Russian emperor. The power of the British monarch is limited by law. The powers of government are legislative, executive, judicial, and ministerial. Power is no blessing in itself, but when it is employed to protect the innocent. – Swift. Under this sense may be comprehended civil, political, ecclesiastical, and military power.
12. A sovereign, whether emperor, king or governing prince or the legislature of a state; as, the powers of Europe; the great powers; the smaller powers, In this sense, the state or nation governed seems to be included in the word power. Great Britain is a great naval power.
13. One invested with authority; a ruler; a civil magistrate. – Rom. xiii.
14. Divinity; a celestial or invisible being or agent supposed to have dominion over some part of creation; as, celestial powers; the powers of darkness.
15. That which has physical power; an army; a navy; a host; a military force. Never such a power – / Was levied in the body of a land. – Shak.
16. Legal authority; warrant; as, a power of attorney; an agent invested with ample power. The envoy has full powers to negotiate a treaty.
17. In arithmetic and algebra, the product arising from the multiplication of a number or quantity into itself; as, a cube is the third power; the biquadrate is the fourth power.
18. In Scripture, right; privilege. – John i. 1 Cor. ix.
19. Angels, good or bad. – Col. 1. Eph. vi.
20. Violence; force; compulsion. – Ezek. iv.
21. Christ is called the power of God, as through him and his Gospel, God displays his power and authority in ransoming and saving sinners. – 1 Cor. i.
22. The powers of heaven may denote the celestial luminaries. – Matth. xxiv.
23. Satan is said to have the power of death, as he introduced sin, the cause of death, temporal and eternal, and torments men with the fear of death and future misery.
24. In vulgar language, a large quantity; a great number; as, a power of good things. [This is, I believe, obsolete, even among our common people.] Power of attorney, authority given to a person to act for another.

1. Same as Poor, the fish.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. A large quantity; a great number; as, a power o(?) good things.
   
   
   [Colloq.] Richardson.
9. 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.
   
   

   * The English unit of power used most commonly is the horse power. See Horse power.

   (b)

10. 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.
11. 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.

12. 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.
13. An authority enabling a person to dispose of an interest vested either in himself or in another person; ownership by appointment.
    
    
    Wharton.
14. Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the business was referred to a committee with power.
    
    

    * 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.