# horsepower

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈhɔɹsˌpaʊɚ/ · frequency rank #15,189

## Definitions
1. Power derived from the motion of a horse.
2. A nonmetric unit of power with various definitions, commonly the mechanical horsepower, approximately equal to 745.7 watts.
3. Metric horsepower, a metric unit approximately equal to 735.5 watts.
4. Strength, performance capability, specs, or similar.

## Etymology
From horse + power: the unit was originally defined as the amount of power that a horse could provide.
Both non-metric and metric units of power were derived from effectively identical measurements of the power a draught horse could sustain over several hours, with the difference in watts solely due to different rounding errors to express that power in round numbers in the original non-SI units (ft·lbf/min and kgf⋅m/s respectively).

## Common misspellings (15)
`hhorsepower`, `horespower`, `horrsepower`, `horseopwer`, `horsepoewr`, `horsepowerr`, `horsepowre`, `horsepowwer`, `horseppower`, `horsepwoer`, `horspeower`, `horssepower`, `hosrepower`, `hrosepower`, `ohrsepower`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/horsepower