power of attorney
/ˌpaʊə(r)əv əˈtɜː(r)niː/
"power-of-attorney" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“power of attorney” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 17
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The legal authorisation of one person to act as the agent of another.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | power of attorney |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌpaʊə(r)əv əˈtɜː(r)niː/ |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “power of attorney” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for power of attorney is 17 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌpaʊə(r)əv əˈtɜː(r)niː/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for power of attorney in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From attorney (“any personal representative”). Attorney now rarely has that sense outside of fixed expressions like this one. The correct English form is power of attorney, spelled P-O-W-E-R- -O-F- -A-T-T-O-R-N-E-Y.
Definition
- 1The legal authorisation of one person to act as the agent of another.
- 2A legal document allowing one person to act as the agent of another.
Etymology
From attorney (“any personal representative”). Attorney now rarely has that sense outside of fixed expressions like this one.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “power of attorney”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-O-W-E-R- -O-F- -A-T-T-O-R-N-E-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌpaʊə(r)əv əˈtɜː(r)niː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.