power
Other forms: powers; powered; powering
Someone with power has physical strength or they're in control of things. So a weakling who's in charge of a business still has a lot of power.
Power comes from the Latin word potere, which means "to be able." But things with power are much more than able — they're able to exert a lot of force. "The powers that be" are those who hold authority, and "the power behind the throne" refers to the people who exert influence without being formally in charge. When used as a verb, power means "to supply with mechanical or electrical energy," as in a nuclear-powered submarine.
Definitions of power
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possession of the qualities (especially mental qualities) required to do something or get something done“danger heightened his powers of discrimination”
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synonyms:
ability
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Antonyms:
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inability
lack of ability (especially mental ability) to do something
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types:
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know-how
the (technical) knowledge and skill required to do something
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leadership
the ability to lead
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intelligence
the ability to comprehend; to understand and profit from experience
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aptitude
inherent ability
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bilingualism
the ability to speak two languages colloquially
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capacity, mental ability
the power to learn or retain knowledge; in law, the ability to understand the facts and significance of your behavior
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creative thinking, creativeness, creativity
the ability to create
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originality
the ability to think and act independently
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science, skill
ability to produce solutions in some problem domain
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accomplishment, acquirement, acquisition, attainment, skill
an ability that has been acquired by training
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hand
ability
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superior skill
more than ordinary ability
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faculty, mental faculty, module
one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind
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bag of tricks
a supply of ways of accomplishing something
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sapience, wisdom
ability to apply knowledge or experience or understanding or common sense and insight
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generalship
the leadership ability of a military general
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brain, brainpower, learning ability, mental capacity, mentality, wit
mental ability
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breadth, comprehensiveness, largeness
the capacity to understand a broad range of topics
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intellect, mind
knowledge and intellectual ability
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nonverbal intelligence
intelligence that is manifested in the performance of tasks requiring little or no use of language
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verbal intelligence
intelligence in the use and comprehension of language
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mental quickness, quick-wittedness, quickness
intelligence as revealed by an ability to give correct responses without delay
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mental dexterity, nimbleness
intelligence as revealed by quickness and alertness of mind
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brilliance, genius
unusual mental ability
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precociousness, precocity
intelligence achieved far ahead of normal developmental schedules
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acuity, acuteness, keenness, sharpness
a quick and penetrating intelligence
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brightness, cleverness, smartness
intelligence as manifested in being quick and witty
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astuteness, perspicaciousness, perspicacity, shrewdness
intelligence manifested by being astute (as in business dealings)
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marbles, wits
the basic human power of intelligent thought and perception
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inherent aptitude, instinct
inborn pattern of behavior often responsive to specific stimuli
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capability, capableness, potentiality
an aptitude that may be developed
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natural ability
ability that is inherited
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fecundity, fruitfulness
the intellectual productivity of a creative imagination
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flight
passing above and beyond ordinary bounds
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genius, wizardry
exceptional creative ability
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imagination, imaginativeness, vision
the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses
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conception, design, excogitation, innovation, invention
the creation of something in the mind
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cleverness, ingeniousness, ingenuity, inventiveness
the power of creative imagination
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innovativeness
originality by virtue of introducing new ideas
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unconventionality
originality by virtue of being unconventional
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freshness, novelty
originality by virtue of being new and surprising
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nose
a natural skill
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virtuosity
technical skill or fluency or style exhibited by a virtuoso
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craft, craftsmanship, workmanship
skill in an occupation or trade
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horsemanship
skill in handling and riding horses
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literacy
the ability to read and write
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marksmanship
skill in shooting
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mastership
the skill of a master
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mixology
skill in preparing mixed drinks
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art, artistry, prowess
a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation
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numeracy
skill with numbers and mathematics
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oarsmanship
skill as an oarsman
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salesmanship
skill in selling; skill in persuading people to buy
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seamanship
skill in sailing
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showmanship
the ability to present something (especially theatrical shows) in an attractive manner
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soldiering, soldiership
skills that are required for the life of soldier
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swordsmanship
skill in fencing
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attention
the faculty or power of mental concentration
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language, speech
the mental faculty or power of vocal communication
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memory, retention, retentiveness, retentivity
the power of retaining and recalling past experience
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intellect, reason, understanding
the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination
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sensation, sense, sensory faculty, sentience, sentiency
the faculty through which the external world is apprehended
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volition, will
the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention
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method
a way of doing something, especially a systematic way; implies an orderly logical arrangement (usually in steps)
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prescience, prevision
the power to foresee the future
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inability
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(physics) the rate of doing work; measured in watts (= joules/second)
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types:
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electric power, electrical power, wattage
the product of voltage and current
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waterpower
the power to do work that is latent in a head of water
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load
the power output of a generator or power plant
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type of:
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physical phenomenon
a natural phenomenon involving the physical properties of matter and energy
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electric power, electrical power, wattage
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physical strength
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synonyms:
might, mightiness
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type of:
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strength
the property of being physically or mentally strong
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strength
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supply the force or power for the functioning of
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possession of controlling influence“the deterrent power of nuclear weapons”“the power of his love saved her”
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synonyms:
powerfulness
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Antonyms:
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impotence, impotency, powerlessness
the quality of lacking strength or power; being weak and feeble
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types:
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effectiveness, potency, strength
capacity to produce strong physiological or chemical effects
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valence, valency
(chemistry) a property of atoms or radicals; their combining power given in terms of the number of hydrogen atoms (or the equivalent)
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valence, valency
(biology) a relative capacity to unite or react or interact as with antigens or a biological substrate
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preponderance
superiority in power or influence
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puissance
power to influence or coerce
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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
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irresistibility, irresistibleness
the quality of being overpowering and impossible to resist
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interest, interestingness
the power of attracting or holding one's attention (because it is unusual or exciting etc.)
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chokehold, stranglehold, throttlehold
complete power over a person or situation
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sway
controlling influence
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influence
a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc
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repellant, repellent
the power to repel
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control
power to direct or determine
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jurisdiction, legal power
(law) the right and power to interpret and apply the law
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disposal
the power to use something or someone
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discretion, free will
the power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies
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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)
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effectiveness, effectivity, effectuality, effectualness
power to be effective; the quality of being able to bring about an effect
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charisma, personal appeal, personal magnetism
a personal attractiveness or interestingness that enables you to influence others
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covalence, covalency
valence characterized by the sharing of electrons in a chemical compound; the number of pairs of electrons an atom can share
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convincingness
the power of argument or evidence to cause belief
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news, newsworthiness
the quality of being sufficiently interesting to be reported in news bulletins
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topicality
the attribute of being of interest at the present time
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color, colour, vividness
interest and variety and intensity
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shrillness
the quality of being sharp or harsh to the senses
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dead hand, dead hand of the past, mortmain
the oppressive influence of past events or decisions
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force
a powerful effect or influence
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grasp, grip
an intellectual hold or understanding
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authorisation, authority, authorization, dominance, potency, say-so
the power or right to give orders or make decisions
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corporatism
control of a state or organization by large interest groups
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hold
power by which something or someone is affected or dominated
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iron fist
rigorous or ruthless control
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rein
any means of control
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self-determination
determination of one's own fate or course of action without compulsion
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incisiveness, trenchancy
keenness and forcefulness of thought or expression or intellect
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efficaciousness, efficacy
capacity or power to produce a desired effect
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line-item veto
the power of a government executive to veto individual items in a bill without vetoing other parts of the bill
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type of:
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quality
an essential and distinguishing attribute of something or someone
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impotence, impotency, powerlessness
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one possessing or exercising power or influence or authority“the mysterious presence of an evil power”
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synonyms:
force
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types:
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juggernaut, steamroller
a massive inexorable force that seems to crush everything in its way
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influence, influencer
one having power to influence another
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Moloch
a tyrannical power to be propitiated by human subservience or sacrifice
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type of:
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causal agency, causal agent, cause
any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results
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juggernaut, steamroller
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a state powerful enough to influence events throughout the world
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synonyms:
great power, major power, superpower, world power
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types:
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hegemon
a leading or paramount power
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type of:
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body politic, commonwealth, country, land, nation, res publica, state
a politically organized body of people under a single government
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hegemon
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a very wealthy or powerful businessman
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synonyms:
baron, big businessman, business leader, king, magnate, mogul, top executive, tycoon
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types:
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oil tycoon
a powerful person in the oil business
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type of:
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businessman, man of affairs
a person engaged in commercial or industrial business (especially an owner or executive)
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oil tycoon
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(of a government or government official) holding an office means being in power“during his first year in power”“the power of the president”
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synonyms:
office
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types:
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executive clemency
the power (usually of a president or governor) to pardon or commute the sentence of someone convicted in that jurisdiction
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war power
an extraordinary power exercised (usually by the executive branch) in the prosecution of a war and involving an extension of the powers that the government normally has in peacetime
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type of:
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state
the way something is with respect to its main attributes
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executive clemency
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a mathematical notation indicating the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itself
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types:
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degree
the highest power of a term or variable
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log, logarithm
the exponent required to produce a given number
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degree of a term
the sum of the exponents of the variables in the term
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degree of a polynomial
the degree of the term in the polynomial that has the highest degree
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first degree
a degree of one
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common logarithm
a logarithm to the base 10
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Napierian logarithm, natural logarithm
a logarithm to the base e
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type of:
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mathematical notation
a notation used by mathematicians
Pronunciation
US
/ˈpaʊər/
UK
/ˈpaʊə/
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