power
/ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/
"power" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“power” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #280 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #280
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The ability to do or undergo something.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | power |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #280 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “power” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for power is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/. Corpus data places it at rank #280 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 22 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for power, with forms such as "opwer", "poewr", and "powerr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Powys", "proper", "Powers", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pótis Proto-Italic *potis Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt Proto-Italic *som Proto-Italic *possom Latin posseder. Vulgar Latin potēre Old French … The correct English form is power, spelled P-O-W-E-R.
Definition
- 1The ability to do or undergo something.
- 2The ability to coerce, influence, or control.
- 3The ability to coerce, influence, or control.
- 4The ability to coerce, influence, or control.
- 5The ability to coerce, influence, or control.
- 6The ability to coerce, influence, or control.
- 7The ability to coerce, influence, or control.
- 8Strength, energy.
- 9Strength, energy.
- 10Strength, energy.
- 11Strength, energy.
- 12Strength, energy.
- 13Strength, energy.
- 14A large amount or number.
- 15Any of the elementary forms or parts of machines: three primary (the lever, inclined plane, and pulley) and three secondary (the wheel-and-axle, wedge, and screw).
- 16A tractor.
- 17A measure of the effectiveness that a force producing a physical effect has over time. If linear, the quotient of: (force multiplied by the displacement of or in an object) ÷ time. If rotational, the quotient of: (force multiplied by the angle of displacement) ÷ time.
- 18A product of equal factors (and generalizations of this notion): xⁿ, read as "x to the power of n" or the like, is called a power and denotes the product x×x×⋯×x, where x appears n times in the product; x is called the base and n the exponent.
- 19Cardinality.
- 20The probability that a statistical test will reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true.
- 21In Christian angelology, an intermediate level of angels, ranked above archangels, but exact position varies by classification scheme.
- 22A bonus point awarded for answering correctly before a certain part of the tossup is read.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pótis Proto-Italic *potis Proto-Indo-European *h₁es- Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésmi Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt Proto-Italic *som Proto-Italic *possom Latin posseder. Vulgar Latin potēre Old French pooir Anglo-Norman poerbor. Middle English power English power 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.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: opwer,poewr,powerr,powre,powwer,ppower,pwoer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of power - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “power”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-O-W-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpaʊ̯ə̯/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Powys” - see the side-by-side comparison. power vs Powys
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.