Power

pow′ėr, n. that in a person or a thing which enables them to act on other persons or things: strength: energy: faculty of the mind: any agency: moving force of anything: right to command: rule: authority: influence: ability: capacity of suffering: a ruler: a divinity: the result of the continued multiplication of a quantity by itself any given number of times: ( optics ) magnifying strength: ( obs. ) a great many.— adjs. Pow′ered , having power; Pow′erful , having great power: mighty: intense: forcible: efficacious.— adv. Pow′erfully .— ns. Pow′erfulne ; Pow′er-house , a house where mechanical power (esp. electric) is generated.— adj. Pow′erle , without power: weak: impotent.— adv. Pow′erle ly .— ns. Pow′erle ne ; Pow′er-loom , a loom worked by some mechanical power, as water, steam, .— Power of attorney (see Attorney ); Power of sale , a clause in securities and wills empowering property referred to to be sold on certain conditions; Powers , or Great Powers (see Great ).— Absolute power , power subject to no control by law; Civil power , power of governing a state; Mechanical powers (see Mechanical ). [O. Fr. poer (Fr. pouvoir )—Low L. pot-ĕre , to be able.]