empower

English

Alternative forms

• empowre (archaic)
• impower (archaic)
• impowre (obsolete)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én

Proto-Italic *en

Proto-Italic *en-

Latin in-

Old French en-bor.

Middle English en-

English em-

Proto-Indo-European *pótis

Proto-Italic *potis

Proto-Italic *som

Proto-Italic *possom

Latin posseder.

Vulgar Latin potēre

Old French pooir

Anglo-Norman poerbor.

Middle English power

English power

English empower

From em- + power.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpaʊ.ə/, /ɛmˈpaʊ.ə/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpaʊ.əɹ/, /ɛmˈpaʊ.əɹ/

  • Audio (California); [ɛ̠mˈpʰaʊ̯.ɚ]:

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊə(ɹ)

Verb

empower (third-person singular simple present empowers, present participle empowering, simple past and past participle empowered)

1. (transitive) To give permission, power, or the legal right to do something.

   Synonyms: allow, let, permit

   Antonyms: ban, bar, forbid, prohibit; see also Thesaurus:prohibit

   • 1985, William H. Tench, Safety is no accident:

     Regulations have been made under the Civil Aviation Acts of 1949, 1980 and 1982 which empower Inspectors of Accidents to do these things.

   • 2021 December 29, Paul Stephen, “Rail's accident inspectors”, in RAIL, number 947, page 30:

     Once on site, inspectors are empowered to exercise wide-ranging legal powers - including the right to enter railway property or land adjoining it; to make written, electronic or photographic records; to seize equipment, remove or retain samples; and to be given access to records and recording equipment.

2. (transitive) To give someone more confidence and/or strength to do something, often by enabling them to increase their control over their own life or situation.

   Synonym: inspire

   Antonyms: disempower, dishearten, disspirit

   John found that starting up his own business empowered him greatly in social situations.

   • 1992, Nick Logan, The Face, page 11-130:

     Musically, what originally attracted me to dance was its shamanist aspects, using natural magic to change people's neurological states and to psychologically empower them.

   • 2021 November 17, Davie Carns, “Addressing the skills gap”, in RAIL, number 944, page 62:

     This side of the training is effective in empowering employees to make better decisions on site, and helps to improve employee retention.

Derived terms

• empowered
• empoweree
• empowerer
• empowering
• empowerment
• misempower

Translations

to give permission to

• Bulgarian: упълномощавам (bg) (upălnomoštavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 授權 / 授权 (zh) (shòuquán)

• Czech: zmocnit
• Dutch: volmacht geven, machtigen (nl)
• Finnish: valtuuttaa (fi)
• French: autoriser (fr)
• Galician: autorizar (gl), facultar, gornecer (gl)
• German: bevollmächtigen (de), (to zu) ermächtigen (de), (to zu) befähigen (de)
• Greek: εξουσιοδοτώ (el) (exousiodotó)
• Hungarian: felhatalmaz (hu)
• Italian: dare potere, permettere (it)
• Māori: whakamana
• Norwegian: bemyndige
• Portuguese: dar poderes a, permitir (pt)
• Russian: уполномо́чивать (ru) (upolnomóčivatʹ), предоставля́ть пра́во (predostavljátʹ právo)
• Spanish: apoderar (es), dar permiso
• Swedish: bemyndiga (sv), befullmäktiga (sv), tillåta (sv), berättiga (sv)

to give confidence and/or strength to

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 賦予…的力量 / 赋予…的力量 (fùyǔ…de lìliàng), 賦能 / 赋能 (fùnéng)

• Dutch: bemoedigen (nl)
• Estonian: väestama, võimestama
• Finnish: voimaannuttaa
• French: encapaciter (fr)
• Galician: afoutar (gl), afiuzar (gl), alumiñar, gracir
• Greek: παρέχω (el) (parécho), ενδυναμώνω (el) (endynamóno)
• Hungarian: megerősít (hu)
• Italian: incoraggiare (it), sostenere (it)
• Māori: whakamana, whakamanawa
• Portuguese: empoderar (pt)
• Spanish: inspirar a, facultar (es), empoderar (es)
• Swedish: stärka (sv)
• Zhuang: hawjrengz

Anagrams

• empowre