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PlainSpell

power

pow·erUK /ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/noun, verb, adjective, interjection

power is spelled P-O-W-E-R, 2 syllables: pow·er. The wrong spelling people search most is pwoer: about 490 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 85 of all searches for the word. Power is a noun meaning “The ability to do or undergo something”. The plural of power is powers.

How many letters and syllables are in power?

Letters5: P-O-W-E-R
Syllables2: pow·er
In writing331 times per million words; the 282nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched1; the most searched, pwoer, about 490 Bing searches a month (all of them)
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How do you spell power?

Power is spelled P-O-W-E-R. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 85 of the searches for power in either form.

powerthe right spelling41,170 searches a month
pwoero and w swapped490 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is power?

Power appears 331 times per million words in written English, the 282nd 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 power?

  • UK /ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/
  • UK /ˈpaʊ̯.ə/
  • [ˈpʰaə]

Power has 2 syllables, split pow·er in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-power.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with power?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as power from its last stressed vowel (/aʊə/, British pronunciation):

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 power

  • powers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • powering participle, present
  • powered participle, past
  • more power comparative
  • most power superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does power mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The ability to do or undergo something.

    He has lost the power to speak.

  2. 2

    The ability to coerce, influence, or control.

  3. 3

    The ability to affect or influence.

    the power of the written word

  4. 4

    The ability or authority to control, govern, command, coerce, etc., such as in a legal, political or business sphere.

    He's nominally president, but he does not have any real power.

  5. 5

    The people in charge of legal or political power, the government.

  6. 6

    A strong or influential nation, company, or other such body.

    In the 19th century, Britain and France were major colonial powers.

  7. 7

    archaicAn army, a military force.

  8. 8

    Physical force or strength.

    He needed a lot of power to hit the ball out of the stadium.

verb

  1. 1

    To provide power for (a mechanical or electronic device).

    This CD player is powered by batteries.

  2. 2

    To hit or kick something forcefully.

  3. 3

    To enable or provide the impetus for.

  4. 4

    To move or advance with great force or speed.

adjective

  1. 1

    colloquialImpressive.

interjection

  1. 1

    colloquialUsed as a cheer to express support

noun

as Power
  1. 1

    A button of a computer, a video game console, or similar device, that when pressed, causes the device to be either shut down or powered up.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate power?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of power: PWR.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Power in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchpouvoir, puissance (ability to affect or influence), électricité, courant (electricity, electricity supply), alimenter (to provide power for)
GermanMacht (ability to affect or influence), Großmacht (influential nation, company etc), Kraft, Stärke (physical force or strength)
Portuguesepoder (ability to affect or influence), alimentar (to provide power for), potência (influential nation, company etc), força (physical force or strength)
Spanishpoder, poderío, potestad (ability to affect or influence), alimentar (to provide power for), potencia (influential nation, company etc), potenciar (to enable or provide the impetus for)

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 power come from?

From Middle English power, poer, from Old French poeir, from Vulgar Latin potēre, from Latin posse, whence English potent. Compare French pouvoir. Displaced the native Old English anweald.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after power