Supplying energy or force to make something work; providing the strength to drive something forward.
From Old French 'povoir' meaning 'to be able,' from Latin 'potis' (powerful). The word originally meant 'ability' or 'strength,' then came to mean the literal force that makes machines work.
Early humans said 'power' just meant strength, but once we invented machines, the word completely changed—now 'power' is a measurement (watts, horsepower) that lets us quantify abstract strength scientifically.
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