{Image Caption: In a typical lightning strike, five hundred mega-joules of electric potential energy is converted into the same amount of energy in other forms, mostly light energy, sound energy and thermal energy}.

{Image Caption: Thermal energy is {the postulated} energy of microscopic constituents of matter, which may include both kinetic and potential energy}.

The word energy derives from the Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια, romanised as energeia, literally ‘activity’, ‘operation’, which possibly appears for the first time in the work of Aristotle in the fourth century BCE. In contrast to the modern definition, energeia was a qualitative philosophical concept, broad enough to include ideas such as happiness and pleasure.

In the late seventeenth century, Gottfried Leibniz proposed the idea of the Latin vis viva, or ‘living force’, which he defined as the product of the mass of an object and its velocity squared; he believed that total vis viva was conserved. To account for slowing due to friction, he theorised that thermal energy consisted of the random motion of the constituent parts of matter, although it would be more than a century until this was generally accepted. The modern analogue of this property, kinetic energy, differs from vis viva only by a factor of two.

In 1807, Thomas Young was possibly the first to use the term “energy” instead of vis viva, in its modern sense. Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis described “kinetic energy” in 1829 in its modern sense, and in 1853, William Rankine coined the term “potential energy”. The law of “conservation of energy” was also first postulated in the early nineteenth century, and applies to any isolated system. It was argued for some years whether heat was a physical substance, dubbed the caloric, or merely a physical quantity, such as momentum. In 1845 James Prescott Joule discovered the link between mechanical work and the generation of heat.

These developments led to the theory of “conservation of energy”, formalised largely by William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) as the field of thermodynamics. The study of thermodynamics aided the rapid development of explanations of chemical processes by Rudolf Clausius, Josiah Willard Gibbs, and Walther Nernst. It also led to a mathematical formulation of the concept of entropy by Rudolf Clausius and to the introduction of laws of radiant energy by Jožef Stefan. According to Amalie ‘Emmy’ Noether’s theorem, the “conservation of energy” is a consequence of the fact that the laws of physics do not change over time. Thus, since 1918, theorists have understood that the law of “conservation of energy” is the direct mathematical consequence of the translational symmetry of the quantity conjugate to energy, namely time.

In 1843, James Prescott Joule independently discovered the mechanical equivalent in a series of experiments. The most famous of them used the “Joule Apparatus”, a descending weight, attached to a string, caused rotation of a paddle immersed in water, practically insulated from heat transfer. It showed how the gravitational potential energy lost by the weight in descending was equal to the internal energy gained by the water through friction with the paddle.

In the International System of Units (SI), the unit of energy is the joule, named after James Joule. It is a derived unit. It is equal to the energy expended (or work done) in applying a force of one newton through a distance of one metre. However energy is also expressed in many other units not part of the SI, such as “ergs”, “calories”, “BTUs” (‘British Thermal Units’), “kilowatt-hours” and “kilocalories”, which require a conversion factor when expressed in SI units.

The SI unit of energy rate (energy per unit time) is the watt, which is a joule per second. Thus, one joule is one watt-second, and thirty-six hundred joules equal one watt-hour. The CGS energy unit is the erg and the imperial and US customary unit is the foot-pound. Other energy units such as the “electronvolt, food “calorie” or thermodynamic “kcal” (kilo-calories based on the temperature change of water in a heating process), and “BTU” are used in specific areas of science and commerce. (...elided...).

In geology, continental drift, mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes are phenomena which can be explained in terms of energy transformations in the Earth’s interior, while meteorological phenomena like wind, rain, hail, snow, lightning, tornadoes and hurricanes are all a result of energy transformations brought about by solar energy on the atmosphere of the planet Earth.

Sunlight may be stored as gravitational potential energy after it strikes the Earth, as (for example) water evaporates from oceans and is deposited upon mountains (where, after being released at a hydroelectric dam, it can be used to drive turbines or generators to produce electricity). Sunlight also drives many weather phenomena, save those generated by volcanic events. An example of a solar-mediated weather event is a hurricane, which occurs when large unstable areas of warm ocean, heated over months, give up some of their thermal energy suddenly to power a few days of violent air movement.

In a slower process, radioactive decay in the core of the Earth releases heat. This thermal energy drives plate tectonics and may lift mountains, via orogenesis. This slow lifting represents a kind of gravitational potential energy storage of the thermal energy, which may be later released to active kinetic energy in landslides, after a triggering event. Earthquakes also release stored elastic potential energy in rocks, a store that has been produced ultimately from the same radioactive heat sources. Thus, according to present understanding, familiar events such as landslides and earthquakes release energy which has been stored as potential energy in the Earth’s gravitational field or elastic strain (mechanical potential energy) in rocks. Prior to this, they represent release of energy which has been stored in matter since the collapse of long-destroyed supernova stars created this material. In cosmology and astronomy the phenomena of stars, nova, supernova, quasars and gamma-ray bursts are the universe’s highest-output energy transformations of matter. All stellar phenomena (including solar activity) are driven by various kinds of energy transformations. [light-blue curly-bracketed inserts added]. ~ (2024 Wikipedia Encyclopaedia).

• power (n.): 1. (a.) the ability or capacity to act or do something effectively; [e.g.]: “Is it in your power to undo this injustice?”; (b.) (often powers): a specific capacity, faculty, or aptitude; [e.g.]: “She used her powers of concentration”; 2. (a.) physical strength or force exerted or capable of being exerted; [e.g.]: “The power of the waves”; (synonyms): strength, might¹, force, energy, power; these nouns denote the capacity to act or work effectively; strength refers especially to physical, mental, or moral robustness or vigour; [e.g.]: “Enough work to do, and strength enough to do the work”. (Rudyard Kipling); might often implies abundant or extraordinary power; [e.g.]: “He could defend the island against the whole might of the German Air Force”. (Winston S. Churchill); force is the application of power or strength; [e.g.]: “The overthrow of our institutions by force and violence”. (Charles Evans Hughes); energy refers especially to a latent source of power; [e.g.]: “The same energy of character which renders a man a daring villain would have rendered him useful to society, had that society been well organised”. (Mary Wollstonecraft); power is the ability to do something and especially to produce an effect; [e.g.]: “I do not think the United States would come to an end if we lost our power to declare an Act of Congress void”. (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jnr.); 
2. (a.) (also energies): exertion of vigour or power; [e.g.]: “A project requiring a great deal of energy and time”; “She devoted her energies to writing songs”; (b.) effectiveness at moving one’s emotions or changing how one thinks; [e.g.]: “A novel of great power and precision”; 
3. (a.) the ability or official capacity to exercise control; authority; [e.g.]: “How long has that party been in power do you know?”; (b.) the military strength or economic or political influence of a nation or other group; [e.g.]: “That country projects its power throughout the region”; (c.) a country, nation, or other political unit having great influence or control over others; [e.g.]: “The western powers prevailed”; 
4. (a.) a supernatural being; [e.g.]: “The powers of evil”; (b.) (powers, Christianity): the sixth of the nine orders of angels in medieval angelology; 
5. (a.) the energy or motive force by which a physical system or machine is operated; [e.g.]: “Turbines turned by steam power provided electricity”; “A sailing ship driven by wind power alone”; (b.) the capacity of a system or machine to operate; [e.g.]: “A vehicle that runs under its own power all day”; (c.) electrical or mechanical energy, especially as used to assist or replace human energy; (d.) electricity supplied to a home, building, or community; [e.g.]: “A storm which cut off power to the whole region”; 
6. (physics): the rate at which work is done, expressed as the amount of work per unit time and commonly measured in units such as the watt and horsepower; 
7. electricity (a.) the product of applied potential difference and current in a direct-current circuit; (b.) the product of the effective values of the voltage and current with the cosine of the phase angle between current and voltage in an alternating-current circuit; 
8. (mathematics): (a.) see exponent (viz.: a number or symbol, as 3 in (x + y)³, placed to the right of and above another number, symbol, or expression, denoting the power to which that number, symbol, or expression is to be raised; also called “power”); (b.) the number of elements in a finite set; 
9. (statistics): in a statistical test, the probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false; 
10. a measure of the magnification of an optical instrument, such as a microscope or telescope; 
11. (chiefly Upper Southern United States): a large number or amount; see note at powerful (viz.: in the Upper Southern United States the words “powerful” and “mighty” are intensives used frequently in the same way as the word very; [e.g.]: “Your boy’s grown powerful big”; “The new baby is mighty purty”; powerful is used as an adjective in some expressions; [e.g.]: “The storm did a powerful lot of harm”; in the same dialect region the noun power has, in addition to its standard meaning, the sense of ‘a large number’ or ‘a large amount’; this sense appears in the Oxford English Dictionary as common in dialectal British English of the 1700s and 1800s; [e.g.]: “It has done a power of work”. (Charles Dickens); all these derivative senses of “power” and “might” take advantage of the notion of strength inherent in these nouns, making them natural intensives); 
12. (archaic): an armed force; (adj.): 1. of or relating to political, social, or economic control; [e.g.]: “A power struggle”; “A power base”; 2. operated with mechanical or electrical energy in place of bodily exertion; [e.g.]: “A power tool”; “The car had power windows”; 3. of or relating to the generation or transmission of electricity; [e.g.]: “The power company”; “The power lines”; 4. (informal) of or relating to influential business or professional practices; [e.g.]: “A pinstriped suit with a power tie”; “Met with high-level executives at a power breakfast”; (tr.v.; powered, powering, powers): to supply with power, especially mechanical or electrical power; (idiom): “powers that be”: those who hold effective power in a system or situation; [e.g.]: “A plan vetoed by the powers that be forthwith”. [Middle English, from Old French pooir, ‘to be able’, ‘power’, from Vulgar Latin *potēre, ‘to be able’, from Latin potis, ‘able’, ‘powerful’]. ~ (American Heritage Dictionary).
__________

• power (n.): 1. ability or capacity to do something; 
2. (often plural) a specific ability, capacity, or faculty; 
3. political, financial, social, etc, force or influence; 
4. control or dominion or a position of control, dominion, or authority; 
5. a state or other political entity with political, industrial, or military strength; 
6. a person who exercises control, influence, or authority; [e.g.]: “He’s a power in the state”; 
7. a prerogative, privilege, or liberty; 
8. (a.) legal authority to act, esp in a specified capacity, for another; (b.) the document conferring such authority; 
9. (a.) a military force; (b.) military potential; 
10. (a.) the value of a number or quantity raised to some exponent; (b.) another name for exponent⁴; 
11. (statistics): the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis in a test when it is false; the power of a test of a given null depends on the particular alternative hypothesis against which it is tested; 
12. (physics; engineering; symbol: P): a measure of the rate of doing work expressed as the work done per unit time; it is measured in watts, horsepower, etc.;
13. (a.) the rate at which electrical energy is fed into or taken from a device or system; it is expressed, in a direct-current circuit, as the product of current and voltage and, in an alternating-current circuit, as the product of the effective values of the current and voltage and the cosine of the phase angle between them; it is measured in watts; (b.) (as modifier): a power amplifier;
14. the ability to perform work; 
15. (a.) mechanical energy as opposed to manual labour; (b.) (as modifier): a power mower; 
16. a particular form of energy; [e.g.]: “The nuclear power plant”; 
17. (a.) a measure of the ability of a lens or optical system to magnify an object, equal to the reciprocal of the focal length; it is measured in dioptres; (b.) another word for magnification; 
18. (informal) a large amount or quantity; [e.g.]: “A power of good”; 
19. (theology; plural) the sixth of the nine orders into which the angels are traditionally divided in medieval angelology; 
20. in one’s power (often foll by an infinitive) able or allowed (to); 21. “in someone’s power”: under the control or sway of someone; 
22. ‘the powers that be’: the established authority or administration; (tr,v.): 
23. to give or provide power to; 
24. (mechanical engineering): to fit (a machine) with a motor or engine; 
25. (intr.v.; slang): to travel with great speed or force. [C13: from Anglo-Norman poer, from Vulgar Latin potēre (unattested), from Latin posse, ‘to be able’]. ~ (Collins English Dictionary).
__________

• power (n.): 1. ability to do or act; capability of doing or accomplishing something; 
2. political or national strength; 
3. great or marked ability to do or act; strength; might; force; 
4. the possession of control or command over others; authority; ascendancy; [e.g.]: “A power over people’s minds”; 
5. political ascendancy or control in the government of a country, state, etc.; 
6. legal ability, capacity, or authority; 
7. delegated authority; authority granted to a person or persons in a particular office or capacity; [e.g.]: “The powers of the president”; 
8. a document or written statement conferring legal authority; 
9. a person or thing which possesses or exercises authority or influence; 
10. a state or nation having international authority or influence; 
11. a military or naval force; 
12. (often, powers): a deity; divinity; [e.g.]: “The heavenly powers above”; 
13. (powers): an order of angels; compare angel, def. 1; (viz.: ‘the power to magnify’); 
14. (physics); symbol: P; work done or energy transferred per unit of time; 
15. mechanical energy as distinguished from hand labour; [e.g.]: “A loom is driven by power nowadays”; 
16. a particular form of mechanical or physical energy; [e.g.]: “The hydroelectric power company”; 
17. energy, force, or momentum; 
18. (a.) the product obtained by multiplying a quantity by itself one or more times; [e.g.]: “The third power of 2 is 8”; (b.) the exponent of an expression, as ‘a’ in “xᵃ”; 
19. (a.) the magnifying capacity of a microscope, telescope, etc., expressed as the ratio of the diameter of the image to the diameter of the object; compare magnification, def. 2; (viz.: ‘the power to magnify’); (b.) the reciprocal of the focal length of a lens; (tr.v.): 
20. to supply with electricity or other means of power; 
21. to give power to; make powerful; 
22. to inspire; spur; 
23. (of a fuel, engine, or any source able to do work) to supply force to operate (a machine); 
24. power up, to prepare to operate or do work; [e.g.]: “To power up a computer”; “Be powered up for the final match”; (adj.): 
25. operated or driven by a motor or electricity; [e.g.]: “A power mower”; “Those power tools”; 
26. operated by a procedure in which manual effort is supplemented or replaced by hydraulic, mechanical, or electric means; [e.g.]: “Those power brakes”;
27. conducting electricity; [e.g.]: “A power cable”; 
28. (informal): expressing power; involving or characteristic of those having authority or influence; [e.g.]: “A power breakfast”; (idioms): ‘the powers that be’: those in supreme command; the authorities. [1250-1300; Middle English pouer(e), poer(e), from Anglo-French poueir, poer, nounal use of infinitive, ‘to be able’, from Vulgar Latin *potēre, for Latin posse, ‘to be able’, ‘have power’; see potent¹; viz.: from Latin potent- (singular of potēns), present participle of posse]. ~ (Webster’s College Dictionary).
__________

• power (n.): 1. possession of controlling influence; [e.g.]: “The deterrent power of nuclear weapons”; “The power of his love saved her”; (synonyms): powerfulness; [e.g.]: “His powerfulness was concealed by a gentle facade”; (related words): quality (an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone; [e.g.]: “The quality of mercy is not strained”. (William Shakespeare); effectiveness, potency, strength (capacity to produce strong physiological or chemical effects; [e.g.]: “The toxin’s potency is deadly”; “The strength of the drinks”); valence, valency (in chemistry, a property of atoms or radicals; their combining power given in terms of the number of hydrogen atoms, or the equivalent); valence, valency (in biology, a relative capacity to unite or react or interact as with antigens or a biological substrate); preponderance (superiority in power or influence; [e.g.]: “The preponderance of good over evil”; “The preponderance of wealth and power”); puissance (power to influence or coerce; [e.g.]: “The puissance of the labour vote”); persuasiveness, strength (the power to induce the taking of a course of action or the embracing of a point of view by means of argument or entreaty; [e.g.]: “The strength of his argument settled the matter”); irresistibility, irresistibleness (the quality of being overpowering and impossible to resist); interestingness, interest (the power of attracting or holding one’s attention (because it is unusual or exciting etc.); [e.g.]: “They said nothing of great interest at all”; “Primary colours can add interest to a room”); chokehold, stranglehold, throttlehold (complete power over a person or situation; [e.g.]: “Corporations have a stranglehold on the media”; “The president applied a chokehold to labour disputes which inconvenienced the public”); sway (controlling influence); influence (a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc.; [e.g.]: “Used her parents’ influence to get the job”); repellant, repellent (the power to repel; “She knew many repellents to his advances”); control (power to direct or determine; [e.g.]: “They were under tight control for a week”); jurisdiction, legal power (in law, the right and power to interpret and apply the law; [e.g.]: “Courts having jurisdiction in this district”); disposal (the power to use something or someone; [e.g.]: “Used all the resources at his disposal to complete the task”); free will, discretion (the power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies); veto (the power or right to prohibit or reject a proposed or intended act, especially the power of a chief executive to reject a bill passed by the legislature); effectiveness, effectivity, effectuality, effectualness (power to be effective; the quality of being able to bring about an effect); impotence, impotency, powerlessness (the quality of lacking strength or power; being weak and feeble)
2. (physics) the rate of doing work; measured in watts (i.e., joules per second); (related words): natural philosophy, physics (the science of matter and energy and their interactions; [e.g.]: “His favourite subjects were physics and maths”); physical phenomenon (a natural phenomenon involving the physical properties of matter and energy); electric power, electrical power, wattage (the product of voltage and current); waterpower (the power to do work which is latent in a head of water); 
3. possession of the qualities, especially mental qualities, required to do something or get something done; [e.g.]: “Danger heightened his powers of discrimination”; (synonyms): ability; (related words): cognition, knowledge, noesis (the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning); know-how (the technical knowledge and skill required to do something); leadership (the ability to lead; [e.g.]: “He believed that leadership can be taught”); intelligence (the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience); aptitude (inherent ability); bilingualism (the ability to speak two languages colloquially); mental ability, capacity (the power to learn or retain knowledge; in law, the ability to understand the facts and significance of human behaviour); creative thinking, creativeness, creativity (the ability to create); originality (the ability to think and act independently); science, skill (ability to produce solutions in some problem domain; [e.g.]: “The skill of a well-trained ballerina”; “The sweet science of ballet”); acquirement, skill, accomplishment, attainment, acquisition (an ability which has been acquired by training); hand (ability; [e.g.]: “He wanted to try his hand at singing”); superior skill (more than ordinary ability); faculty, mental faculty, module (one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind)
4. (of a government or government official): holding an office means being in power; [e.g.]: “Being in office already gives a candidate a great advantage”; “During his first year in office he fulfilled his core campaign promises”; “During his first year in power he made many improvements”; “The power of the presidency”; (synonyms): office; (related words): state (the way something is with respect to its main attributes; [e.g.]: “The current state of knowledge”; “Her state of health”; “In a weak financial state the business stagnated”); governing, government activity, government, governance, administration (the act of governing; exercising authority; [e.g.]: “Regulations for the governing of state prisons”; “He had considerable experience of government departments”); executive clemency (the power, usually of a president or governor, to pardon or commute the sentence of someone convicted in that jurisdiction); war power (an extraordinary power exercised, usually by the executive branch, in the prosecution of a war and involving an extension of the powers the government normally has in peacetime); 
5. one possessing or exercising power or influence or authority; [e.g.]: “The mysterious presence of an evil power was abroad”; (synonyms): force; [e.g.]: “May the force be with you”; “The forces of evil were vanquished”; (related words): causal agency, causal agent, cause (any entity which produces an effect or is responsible for events or results); juggernaut, steamroller (a massive inexorable force which seems to crush everything in its way); influence (one having power to influence another; [e.g.]: “She was the most important influence in my life”; “He was a good influence on the children”); Moloch (a tyrannical power to be propitiated by human subservience or sacrifice; [e.g.]: “The great Moloch of war”; “Duty has become the Moloch of modern life”. (Norman Douglas); 
6. a mathematical notation indicating the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itself; (synonyms): exponent, index; (related words): degree (the highest power of a term or variable); mathematical notation (a notation used by mathematicians); logarithm, log (the exponent required to produce a given number); 
7. physical strength; (synonyms): might, mightiness; (related words): strength (the property of being physically or mentally strong; [e.g.]: “Fatigue sapped his strength considerably”); 
8. a state powerful enough to influence events throughout the world; (synonyms): great power, major power, superpower, world power; (related words): body politic, country, nation, res publica, commonwealth, state, land (a politically organised body of people under a single government; [e.g.]: “The state has elected a new president”; “In stark contrast to post-colonial self-rule African nations prospered under colonialism”; “Students who had come to the nation’s capitol”; “The country’s largest manufacturer”; “An industrialised land”); hegemon (a leading or paramount power); 
9. a very wealthy or powerful businessman; [e.g.]: “An all-powerful robber baron”; (synonyms): big businessman, business leader, magnate, top executive, tycoon, baron, mogul, king; (related words): businessman, man of affairs (a person engaged in commercial or industrial business, especially an owner or executive); oil tycoon (a powerful person in the oil business); (v.): 1. supply the force or power for the functioning of; [e.g.]: “Enhanced petroleum powers the engines”; (related words): drive (cause to function by supplying the force or power for or by controlling; [e.g.]: “The amplifier drives the vacuum tube”; “Steam drives the engines”; “This device drives the disks for the computer”); cater, ply, provide, supply (give what is desired or needed, especially support, food or sustenance; [e.g.]: “The hostess provided lunch for all the guests”). ~ (Princeton’s WordNet 3.0).
__________

• power (n.): 1. ability to act, regarded as latent or inherent; the faculty of doing or performing something; capacity for action or performance; capability of producing an effect, whether physical or moral; potency; might; as, ‘a man of great power’; ‘the power of capillary attraction’; ‘money gives power’; 
2. ability, regarded as put forth or exerted; strength, force, or energy in action; as, ‘the power of steam in moving an engine’; ‘the power of truth, or of argument, in producing conviction’; ‘the power of enthusiasm’
3. capacity of undergoing or suffering; fitness to be acted upon; susceptibility; called also ‘passive power’; as, ‘great power of endurance’; [e.g.]: “Power, then, is active and passive; faculty is active power or capacity; capacity is passive power”. (Sir William Hamilton; 1788-1856); 
4. the exercise of a faculty; the employment of strength; the exercise of any kind of control; influence; dominion; sway; command; government; [e.g.]: “Power is no blessing in itself but when it is employed to protect the innocent”. (Jonathan Swift; 1667-1745); 
5. the agent exercising an ability to act; an individual invested with authority; an institution, or government, which exercises control; as, ‘the great powers of Europe’; hence, often, a superhuman agent; a spirit; a divinity; [e.g.]: “And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken”. (Matt. xxiv. 29); 
6. a military or naval force; an army or navy; a great host; [e.g.]: “Never such a power... | Was levied in the body of a land”. (William Shakespeare)
7. a large quantity; a great number; as, ‘a power of good things’
8. (mechanical): the rate at which mechanical energy is exerted or mechanical work performed, as by an engine or other machine, or an animal, working continuously; as, ‘an engine of twenty horse-power’; 
9. a mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical energy is derived; as, ‘water power’; ‘steam power’; ‘hand power’, etc.; 9. (mathematics): the product arising from the multiplication of a number into itself; as, a square is the second power, and a cube is third power, of a number; 10. (metaphysical): mental or moral ability to act; one of the faculties which are possessed by the mind or soul; as, ‘the power of thinking, reasoning, judging, willing, fearing, hoping’, etc.; [e.g.]: “The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of my powers, drove the grossness.... into a received belief”. (William Shakespeare); 
10. a machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a motor to drive other machinery; as, ‘a dog power’; 
11. (optics): the degree to which a lens, mirror, or any optical instrument, magnifies; in the telescope, and usually in the microscope, the number of times it multiplies, or augments, the apparent diameter of an object; sometimes, in microscopes, the number of times it multiplies the apparent surface; 
12. (law): an authority enabling a person to dispose of an interest vested either in himself or in another person; ownership by appointment; 13. hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, ‘the business was referred to a committee with power’. ~ (Webster’s 1913 Dictionary).
__________

• power (n.): 1. control, authority, influence, command, sovereignty, sway, dominance, domination, supremacy, mastery, dominion, ascendancy; (N.Z.): mana; [e.g.]: “Women who have reached positions of great power and influence”; 
2. ability, capacity, faculty, property, potential, capability, competence, competency; [e.g.]: “He was so drunk that he had lost the power of speech”; (antonyms): inability, incompetence, incapacity, incapability; 
3. authority, right, licence, privilege, warrant, prerogative, authorisation; [e.g.]: “The Prime Minister has the power to dismiss senior ministers”; 
4. strength, might, energy, weight, muscle, vigour, potency, brawn; (slang): welly; [e.g.]: “He had no power in his left arm”; (antonyms): weakness, impotence, feebleness, listlessness, enervation; 5. forcefulness, force, strength, intensity, potency, eloquence, persuasiveness, cogency, powerfulness; (informal): punch; [e.g.]: “The power of his rhetoric”; 
5. the powers that be; (synonyms): the authorities, the government, the establishment, the people in charge, the men in (grey) suits; [e.g.]: “The powers that be banned the advertisement”; (quotations): “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. (First Baron Acton; ‘A Letter’); “Any unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it”. (William Pitt, Earl of Chatham); “Power is the great aphrodisiac”. (Henry Kissinger); “Here we may reign secure, and in my choice”; “To reign is worth ambition though in hell”; “Better to reign in hell, than serve in heav’n”. (John Milton; ‘Paradise Lost’); “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”. (Mao Tse-tung); “A friend in power is a friend lost”. (Henry Brooks Adams; ‘The Education of Henry Adams’); “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant”. (John Stuart Mill; ‘On Liberty’). ~ (Collins English Thesaurus).
__________

• power (n.): 1. the energy by which a machine or system is operated; [e.g.]: “Trains which run on steam power for tourists”; “Ships which use nuclear power for propulsion”; 
2. (physics): the rate at which work is done with respect to time, measured in units such as watts or horsepower; compare energy (viz.: more or less ditto this power definition) and work (viz.: work is the transfer of energy from one object to another, especially in order to make the second object move in a certain direction; work is equal to the amount of force multiplied by the distance over which it is applied; if a force of ten newtons, for example, is applied over a distance of three metres, the work is equal to thirty newtons, per metre, or thirty joules); 
3. (mathematics): the number of times a number or an expression is multiplied by itself, as shown by an exponent; thus ten to the sixth power, or 10⁶, equals one million; 
4. a number which represents the magnification of an optical instrument, such as a microscope or telescope; a 500-power microscope can magnify something five hundred times. ~ (The American Heritage Student Science Dictionary).
__________

• power (n.): an abundance; a body of armed men; a fighting force; a large quantity, a great number. (Samuel Johnson, 1755); [e.g.]: “power of angels”; “power of followers”; “power of good” (1770); “power of goods (provisions)”; “power of horsemen (1553); “power of fine ladies” (1706); “power of laymen“ (1641); “power of men of war (1523); “power of money“ (1680); “power of poor people“ (1661); “power of servants“ (1801); “power of good things“ (1755); “power of troops”; “power of years” (1780). ~ (Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms).

• hard power (idiom): the ability of a nation or other political entity to reach a desired outcome through force or the threat of force, i.e. military action (the opposite of soft power); [e.g.]: “Many of the top military brass have stated their belief about the nation’s interests being best served through maintaining traditional hard power in combination with so-called soft power methods, such as diplomacy”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• soft power (idiom): the ability of a nation or other political entity to reach a desired outcome by non-violent methods (the opposite of hard power), such as diplomacy, negotiation, foreign aid, etc., and without the use or threat of force; i.e. military action; [e.g.]: “Some of the top military brass have stated their belief about the nation’s interests being best served through soft power methods, such as diplomacy, with traditional hard power deterrence as a back-up strategy”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• corridors of power (idiom): the places or positions occupied by those with authority, especially in the upper levels of government; [e.g.]: “I want to be in the corridors of power someday—I’m sick of having to take orders from other people”; “Ordinary people don’t make the laws, though—that’s reserved for the people in the corridors of power to decide”; “Well, if you make it all the way to the corridors of power then you too can boss people around one day”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• corridors of power (idiom): the offices of powerful leaders; [e.g.]: “As clerk to a Supreme Court justice, he thought he’d get his foot inside the corridors of power regularly”; this term was first used by Charles Percy Snow in his novel “Homecomings” (1956) for the ministries of Britain’s Whitehall, with their top-ranking civil servants. Later it was broadened to any high officials. ~ (The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms).

• the corridors of power (idiom): the senior levels of government or administration, where covert influence is regarded as being exerted and significant decisions are made. This expression comes from the title of Charles Percy Snow’s novel “The Corridors of Power” (1964 ). Although typically used with power, the phrase can be more specifically applied to the most influential levels of the hierarchy within a particular place or organisation, especially when they are regarded as operating covertly. The French word coulisse (meaning ‘the wings in a theatre’ and ‘corridor’) has a similar figurative sense of the corridor as a place of negotiation and behind-the-scenes scheming. ~ (Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary).

• corridors of power (idiom): the highest echelons of governmental bureaucracies. This term was coined in the 1956 novel “Homecomings”, by Charles Percy Snow, who later used it as the title of another novel, “Corridors of Power” (1964). By that time Baron Snow realised it had become a cliché, but said, “If a man hasn’t the right to his own cliché, who has?” (quoted by William Safire, New York Times, May 14, 2000). However, it is heard less often today. ~ (The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer).

• be in power (idiom): to have some degree of political power, as through election or appointment; [e.g.]: “How can anyone think a nineteen-year-old moron like him should be in power and vote for him?”; “That tyrant is in power because of his brutality towards his opponents”; “Everyone knows how those puppets are in power to further our government’s interests”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• lust for power (idiom): intense, insatiable desire to attain power and control; [e.g.]: “My sister’s lust for power in our family business has created some deep and bitter divisions between her and the rest of us siblings”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• be on a power trip (idiom): to be exerting an excessive degree of control or authority over others, especially as a means of inflating or bolstering one’s ego or self-worth; [e.g.]: “She has been on a real power trip ever since she was promoted to regional manager”; “These hackers are just on a power trip, showing off their computer skills by ruining other people’s lives”; “He has been on a real power trip ever since he was promoted”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• be drunk with power (cliché): to be consumed with notions of one’s self-importance and apt to exercise one’s authority in a domineering, arrogant, and reckless way; [e.g.]: “The new political leader is clearly drunk with power as he seems poised to turn the nation’s government into a dictatorship”; “All they did was promote her to regional manager yet now she’s drunk with power and spends all day ordering us around”; “Gees, Mum and Dad leave him in charge for one night, and now he’s drunk with power, still bossing us around”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• powerhouse (idiom): a person, group, organisation, etc., which has a lot of power, force, or influence; [e.g.]: “The studio has become a real powerhouse in the movie industry, cranking out huge blockbuster hits one after another”; “Sarah has become a powerhouse for our law firm”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• powerhouse (n.): a very big strong person (usually a male); [e.g.]: “He is a real powerhouse so I’d hate to have him mad at me”. ~ (McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions).

• be the power behind the throne (idiom): to be the person or people who have true control or great influence on a leader, but who are not officially or publicly in charge; [e.g.]: “The president’s charisma and likeability got him elected, but his team of advisors is the real power behind the throne these days”; “[Person A]: ‘Why did you marry a fool like him in the first place?’ [Person B]: ‘So I could be the power behind the throne, my dear’”; “Who is truly the power behind the throne here? I’m starting to think the prime minister is a mere puppet”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• be the (real) power behind the throne (idiom): be the person who really controls a family, a business, a country, etc., even though people think somebody else controls it; [e.g.]: “It’s not the president who makes the important decisions; his wife is the real power behind the throne you know”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• the powers that be (idiom): the people or forces who are in a position of authority or control; [e.g.]: “Everyone thought the bill would be passed immediately, but the powers that be have decided to kill it before it gained any traction”; “We do have the power to effect change by voting, but we’re largely at the mercy of the powers that be between elections”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• powers that be (idiom): the people who are in authority; [e.g.]: “Yes, the powers that be have decided to send back the illegal immigrants”; “I have applied for a licence and the powers that be are considering my application”. ~ (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs).

• the powers that be (often ironic): those in control, the authorities; [e.g.]: “Our plan was vetoed by the powers that be forthwith”; this expression appeared in William Tyndale’s 1526 translation of Romans 13:1 in the Christian Bible: “The powers that be are ordained of God”. ~ (American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms).

• the powers that be (idiom): people sometimes call people in authority the powers that be, especially when they want to say they disagree with them or do not understand what they say or do; [e.g.]: “Yes, the powers that be may keep us from building a house just how we want to”; “Remember, the powers that be, in this case the independent television association, banned the advertisement altogether”. ~ (Collins Co-Build Idioms Dictionary).

• the powers that be (idiom): the authorities; this phrase comes from Romans 13:1: “the powers that be are ordained of God”⁽*⁾. ~ (Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary).

⁽*⁾[Romans 13:1-2]: (1). Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: *the powers that be* are ordained of God; (2). Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. [emphasis added]. ~ (KJV; Romans 13:1&2).

• the powers that be (cliché): those in positions of authority. This term is biblical, “The powers that be are ordained of God”, and is from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (13:1). It asserts unequivocally all power of any kind comes from God alone, and centuries later it was reasserted by Pope Leo XIII: “All public power proceeds from God” (“Immortale Dei”, 1885). Today the term is used more loosely to include any temporal authorities. ~ (The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer).

• money is power (idiom): having a lot of money gives one more options in life and more influence over others; [e.g.]: “It is well said money is power—power to choose one’s own fate, power to tell others what to do—but the power to dictate the very course of the country is quite undemocratic”; “Because money is power our politicians—of course—only think about how best to serve the wealthiest people in the country”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• money is power (prov.): if someone has money they can get things and do things; [e.g.]: “As soon as she realised money is power she wanted a career which would make her a lot of it”. ~ (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs).

• power of the purse (idiom): one group’s control over the spending power of a given group (usually within a government); [e.g.]: “Congress has the power of the purse, and they will not approve of expanding military spending”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• absolute power corrupts absolutely (proverb): one who holds unchecked power or authority is likely to become corrupt or abuse one’s position; [e.g.]: “When he was promoted to ᴄᴇᴏ—and bearing in mind how absolute power corrupts absolutely as the saying goes—he really started abusing the authority of his office”; “[Person A]: ‘I never should have appointed him head of the committee’. [Person B]: ‘You need to call him in for a meeting, before he thinks that he can do whatever he wants, as power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, remember’”; “Their king isn’t the first to take his power too far—absolute power corrupts absolutely—and he won’t be the last”. [note: this phrase is usually attributed to nineteenth-century historian Lord Acton]. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• absolute power corrupts absolutely (proverb): one who has total authority is very likely to abuse their position; [e.g.]: “We thought he would be a responsible mayor, but, as absolute power corrupts absolutely, within a year of taking office he was as bad as all the rest”. [note: the phrase “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely” was used by the British historian Lord Acton]. ~ (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs).

• girl power (idiom): a phrase used to represent or communicate female empowerment and independence; [e.g.]: “The movie is all about girl power, focusing on the triumphs of a female super-heroine over her male adversaries”; “The author said the series could celebrate girl power in a way which is typically underserved in the sci-fi genre due to having young women as her central characters”; “I refuse to be financially dependent on my husband, and I encourage my daughters to do the same. Girl power, right?”. ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• flower child (dated): a hippie, especially one who is from the 1960s or adopts the style and manner thereof; [e.g.]: “My grandmother was a prototypical flower child back in the 1960s, singing protest songs and living out of a vee-dub van adorned with peace signs and groovy colors”; “The secluded community is run by old-school flower children who put an emphasis on peace, anti-materialism, and care for the environment”; “[Granddaughter]: ‘Gram, you were a flower child when you were young?’ [Grandmother]: ‘You bet I was. I was at Woodstock!’” ~ (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms).

• puissant (adj.): powerful; having great power or force or potency or effect; (adv.): puissantly; [e.g.]: “They sheltered awestruck by the puissant intensity of the cyclonic winds”. [from Old French puissant, poiseant, ‘powerful’, from Latin potis, ‘able’, ‘powerful’, originally ‘a lord’, ‘a master’ (cf. Greek *πότις, later πόσις, originally ‘master’, ‘lord’) ultimately from Latin potēns, ‘mighty’, from posse, ‘to have power’]. ~ (Online Neoteric Dictionary).

• puissance (n.): power to influence or coerce; potency, powerfulness; [e.g.]: “A hegemonic nation projects its puissance all throughout its neighbouring regions”; “The puissance of a single member nation is not necessarily incompatible with a genuine commonwealth of nations”; “The extraordinary puissance of his personality shone through the address”; “Given the prior lacklustre situation his recent activities and direct action have added considerable puissance to the movement; (synonyms): power, potency, might, strength, energy, vigour, muscle, force, forcefulness; capacity, control, authority; cogency, impressiveness, persuasiveness, influence, sway; effectiveness, efficacy; potential. [from Old French puissant, poiseant, ‘powerful’; ultimately from Latin potēns, ‘mighty’, from posse, ‘to have power’]. ~ (Online Neoteric Dictionary).

• puissant (adj.; archaic or poetic): powerful; (adv.): puissantly. [C15: from Old French, from Latin potēns, ‘mighty’, from posse, ‘to have power’]. ~ (Collins English Dictionary).

• puissance (n.): 1. a competition in showjumping which tests a horse’s ability to jump a limited number of large obstacles; 2. (archaic or poetic): power. [C15: from Old French; see puissant; viz.: from Latin potēns, ‘mighty’, from posse, ‘to have power’]. ~ (Collins English Dictionary).

• puissant (adj.): powerful; [e.g.]: “The most puissant government in western Europe”; “A puissant bomb”; “His puissant arms”; (related words): archaicism, archaism (the use of an archaic expression); powerful (having great power or force or potency or effect; [e.g.]: “The horse’s powerful kick”; “Those powerful drugs”; “A powerful argument”). ~ (Princeton’s WordNet 3.0).

• puissance (n.): power to influence or coerce; [e.g.]: “The puissance of the labour vote”; (related words): power, powerfulness (possession of controlling influence; [e.g.]: “The deterrent power of nuclear weapons”; “The power of his love saved her”; “his powerfulness was concealed by a gentle facade”). ~ (Princeton’s WordNet 3.0).

• puissant (adj.): 1. having or able to exert great power; (synonyms): mighty, potent, powerful; 2. having great physical strength; (synonyms): mighty, potent, powerful, strong. ~ (American Heritage Roget’s Thesaurus).

• puissance (n.): 1. capacity or power for work or vigorous activity; (synonyms): animation, energy, force, might, potency, power, sprightliness, steam, strength; (informal): get-up-and-go, go, pep, peppiness, zip; 2. the state or quality of being physically strong; (synonyms): brawn, might, muscle, potence, potency, power, powerfulness, sinew, strength; thew (=a sinew or muscle, esp. if strong or well-developed; muscular power or strength; often used in plural). ~ (American Heritage Roget’s Thesaurus).

• puissant (adj.): powerful; strong; mighty; forcible; as, ‘a puissant prince or empire’; [e.g.]: “Of puissant nations which the world possessed”. (Edmund Spenser; 1552-1599); “And worldlings in it are less merciful, | And more puissant”. (Elizabeth Barrett Browning; 1806-1861). ~ (Webster’s 1913 Dictionary).

• puissance (n.): power; strength; might; force; potency; [e.g.]: “The power and puissance of the king”. (William Shakespeare). ~ (Webster’s 1913 Dictionary).

• puissant (adj.): powerful; mighty; strong; vigorous; forcible: as, ‘a puissant prince or empire’; [e.g.]: “Which fele letters brought with briefs many | Of Anthony his part, a puissant man tho”. (“The Romans of Partenay”; Early English Text Society, 1. 2683); “The flemmings were beyond the river puissant enough... to kept the passage”. (John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, translation of “Froissart’s Chronicles”, 1523-25, I. 721); “I will be puissant, | And mighty in my talk to her”. (Ben Jonson, “Alchemist”, 1610, v. 1); “So puissant is the Danish king, and strong | In all the sinews of approved force”. (John Ford, “Honour Triumphant and the Monarchs’ Meeting”, 1606); “Lofn is as puissant a divinity in the Norse Edda as Camadeva in the red vault of India, Eros in the Greek, or Cupid in the Latin heaven⁽*⁾”. (Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, ‘Success’), in “Society and Solitude”, 1870).

[from Middle English puyssant, puysaunt, pusant, from Old French puissant, poiseant, French puissant = Italian possente, ‘powerful’, from Medieval Latin as if *possen(t-)s, for Latin poten(t-)s, ppr. of posse, ‘be able’; see potent; viz.: from Latin potis, ‘able’, ‘powerful’, originally ‘a lord’, ‘a master’ = Greek *πότις, later πόσις, ‘husband’, originally ‘master’, ‘lord’ = Sanskrit pati, ‘lord’, ‘master’ = Lithuanian patis, ‘lord’; the same element occurs also in English despot, host²]. ~ (Century Dictionary and Cyclopaedia).

• puissance (n.): 1. power; strength; force; vigour; [e.g.]: “There were much people and rich lords of great puissance, and thereto were they well horsed”. (Merlin; Early English Text Society, ii. 232); “With what help and aid the virtues resist and overcome the puissance of the vices”. (Sir Thomas More, “Utopia”; translated by Robinson, ii. 4); “Commonly civil and popular wars decay in puissance, prevail seldom, and may not endure”. (Antonio de Guevara, “Letters”; translated by Edward Hellowes, 1577, p. 248); “His heart did earn | To prove his puissance in battle brave”. (Edmond Spenser, “The Faerie Queene”, I. i. 3); “Leave your England, as dead midnight still, | Guarded with grandsires, babies, and old women, | Either past or not arrived to pith and puissance”. (William Shakespeare, “Henry V”, iii., Prologue, 1. 21); “Still from time to time | Came murmurs of her beauty from the South, | And of her brethren, youths of puissance”. (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “Princess“, i.); 
2. (rare): jurisdiction; power; control; [e.g.]: “The education of children should not altogether be under the puissance of their fathers, but under the public power and authority, because the public have therein more Interest then their parents”. (“Book of Precedence”; E. E. T. S., extra ser., i. 11); 
3. (rare): armed force; [e.g.]: “Than, with the first puissance that we may make, let us destroy the vital for them through the country, and let us set in each garrison as much people as we may”. (Merlin; Early English Text Society, ii. 174); “All the puissance that was sent by King Philippe... they were all discomfited and slain”. (John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, translation of “Froissart’s Chronicles”, 1523-25, I. 731); “Cousin, go draw our puissance together”. (William Shakespeare, “King John”, iii. 1. 339). [from Middle English puyssance, puysaunce, from Old French puissance, poissance, French puissance, ‘power’, from puissant, ‘powerful’; see puissant]. ~ (Century Dictionary and Cyclopaedia).

• puissant (adj.): powerful, mighty, having authority; (related terms): puissance; [e.g.]: “Awake remembrance of these valiant dead, | And with your puissant arm renew their feats”. (from Act I, Scene ii, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in “Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies” (First Folio; date written 1599), by William Shakespeare; published 1623, by Isaac Iaggard, and Edward Blount, London); “For who can yet believe, though after loss, | That all these puissant legions, whose exile | Hath emptied Heaven, shall fail to re-ascend, | Self-raised, and repossess their native seat?” (from Book One, in “Paradise Lost”, by John Milton; 1667, Samuel Simmons, London; republished as “Paradise Lost in Ten Books”, by Basil Montagu Pickering, London, 1873); “I cried in a loud voice, ‘Long live the most puissant king of Lilliput!’”. (from ‘Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World’, Part One: ‘A Voyage to Lilliput’, in “Gulliver’s Travels”, Vol. I., by Jonathan Swift; October 28, 1726, Benjamin Motte, London); “How comes all this, if there be not something puissant in whaling?” (from chapter 24, in “Moby-Dick; or, The Whale”, by Herman Melville; November 14, 1851, First American Edition, Harper & Brothers, New York, N.Y.; Richard Bentley, London, England); “O noble breast and all-puissant arms, | Am I the cause, I the poor cause that men | Reproach you, saying all your force is gone?” (page 5, ‘Enid’, in “Idylls of the King”, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson; 1859, Edward Moxon & Co., London); “In fact the titles could be anything—or (with some of the most puissant) no title at all...”. (from “Stranger in a Strange Land”, by Robert A. Heinlein; 1961, Avon, New York). [etymology: from Anglo-Norman puissant, pussant, et al., Middle French puissant, ‘poissant’, present participle of pooir, ‘to be able’, ultimately from Latin posse, ‘be able’]. ~ (Wiktionary English Dictionary).

• puissance (n.): 1. power, might or potency; (related terms): puissant; [e.g.]: “The Sarazin ſore daunted with the buffe | Snatcheth his ſword, and fiercely to him flies; | Who well it wards, and quyteth cuff with cuff: | Each others equall puiſſaunce enuies, | And through their iron ſides with cruelties | Does ſeeke to perce: repining courage yields | No foote to foe”. (pages 23-24, Stanza XVII, Canto II, Book I, in “The Faerie Queene”, by Edmund Spenser; 1590, John Wolfe, for William Ponsonbie, London); “We easily pronounce puissance, truth and justice; they be words importing some great matter, but that thing we neither see nor conceive”. (from Chapter 12, Book II, in “The Essayes”, by Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio; 1603, Valentine Simmes for Edward Blount, London); “After these things above said, the Priest exorcised the salt, saying thus: I conjure thee, creature of salt; that is to say, I conjure in thee the puissance of the Devil in Hell, in the name of God Father omnipotent, and in the charity of our Lord Jesu Christ, and in the virtue of the Holy Ghost”. (page 255, in “74. The same [i.e., ‘The Ordynarye of Crysten Men’], in Typographia, or The Printers’ Instructor; Including an Account of the Origin of Printing, with Biographical Notices of the Printers of England, from Caxton to the Close of the Sixteenth Century; A Series of Ancient and Modern Alphabets, and Domesday Characters; Together with an Elucidation of Every Subject Connected with the Art; Emprynted in the Cyte of London in the Flete Strete in the sygne of ye sonne by Wynkyn de Worde ye yere our lorde m.ccccc.vj. Quarto”, Vol. I, by John Johnson; 1824, Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, & Green, Paternoster Row, London); “Any impression of mental puissance might have been increased by the fact that I was usually to be seen working hard with notebook and biro, shaping up a new book review or a linking script”. (page 66, “North Face of Soho: Unreliable Memoirs”, Vol. IV, by Clive James; 2006, Picador, London; republished Picador, London, 2007); 2. (equestrianism): the high-jump component of the sport of show jumping; [e.g.]: “It was in Dublin that San Lucas scored his first success in what has become something of a speciality for him, the puissance”. (page 126, Show Jumping International, by G. H. S. Webber; 1969, Evans Brothers, London; Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York); “Pat [Moss] then went to Oxford to qualify for the Horse of the Year Show, and Danny was fourth in the Puissance, an event with very high jumps”. (page 23, “Harnessing Horsepower: The Pat Moss Carlsson Story”, by Stuart Turner; April 2011, Veloce Publishing, Poundbury, Dorset); “Also, there was no relation of early traing with performance, as measured by the outcome of the puissance competition. (page 333, “Performance in Equestrian Sports”, by Hilary M. Clayton, P. René van Weeren; editors Willem Back, Hilary M. Clayton; Second Edition, 2013, Equine Locomotion, Edinburgh, Saunders, New York). [etymology: from Middle English puissaunce, from Anglo-Norman puissance, pusaunce, and other forms, from Old French puissant, ‘powerful’]. ~ (Wiktionary English Dictionary).

• puissant (adj.): powerful; mighty; strong; vigorous; forcible: as, ‘a puissant prince or empire’; [e.g.]: “Lofn is as puissant a divinity in the Norse Edda as Camadeva in the red vault of India, Eros in the Greek, or Cupid in the Latin heaven”. (Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882). ~ (Century Dictionary and Cyclopaedia).

• puissantly (adv.): in a puissant manner; powerfully; potently; [e.g.]: “Mahomet, a man subtle in wit, of valiant heart, and fortunate in exploit of war, as he manifested most puissantly by obtaining more honour than any other in the camp”. (Antonio de Guevara, “Letters”; translated by Edward Hellowes, 1577, p. 326). ~ (Century Dictionary and Cyclopaedia).

• puissantness (n.): puissance; power; strength; [e.g.]: “The emperor... hath been driven to extreme shifts, and that by the pollices of mean men who were thought to be his friends, and not by the puissantness of others who were known to be his open enemies”. (Roger Aseham, 1515-1568, “Affairs of Germany”, p. 3). ~ (Century Dictionary and Cyclopaedia).

• puissance (n.): a competition in showjumping which tests a horse’s ability to jump a limited number of large obstacles. ~ (Collins Discovery Encyclopaedia).

Random Literary Samples:

• “She took a deep breath and held it, raised her head, and gave him a *puissant* look. He held her stare for a noticeable length of time”. [emphasis added]. ~ (page 29, “Exclusive”, by Sandra Brown; 2011, Hachette UK).