empower
/ɪmˈpaʊ.əɹ/verb
empower is spelled E-M-P-O-W-E-R: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, empower means “To give permission, power, or the legal right to do something” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in empower?
| Letters | 7: E-M-P-O-W-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,731st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is empower?
Empower appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce empower?
- UK /ɪmˈpaʊ.ə/
- UK /ɛmˈpaʊ.ə/
- US /ɪmˈpaʊ.əɹ/
Empower has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-empower.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with empower?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as empower from its last stressed vowel (/aʊəɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of empower
- empowers present, singular, he/she/it
- empowering participle, present
- empowered participle, past
- empowre
- impower
- impowre
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does empower mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To give permission, power, or the legal right to do something.
- 2
To give someone more confidence and/or strength to do something, often by enabling them to increase their control over their own life or situation.
John found that starting up his own business empowered him greatly in social situations.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Empower in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | autoriser , encapaciter |
| German | bevollmächtigen, ermächtigen, befähigen |
| Portuguese | dar poderes a, permitir , empoderar |
| Spanish | apoderar, dar permiso , inspirar a, facultar, empoderar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does empower come from?
From em- + power.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).