Meanings
present singular third person empowers · participle present empowering · participle past empowered · past empowered · alternative empowre · alternative impower · alternative impowre
- transitiveTo give permission, power, or the legal right to do something.
Regulations have been made under the Civil Aviation Acts of 1949, 1980 and 1982 which empower Inspectors of Accidents to do these things.
1985, William H. Tench, Safety is no accident1 more example
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.
2021 December 29, Paul Stephen, “Rail's accident inspectors”, in RAIL, number 947, page 30Synonyms: allow, let, permit · Antonyms: ban, bar, forbid, prohibit, prohibit, ban, banish, bar
- transitiveTo give someone more confidence and/or strength to do something, often by enabling them to increase their control over their own life or situation.
John found that starting up his own business empowered him greatly in social situations.
2 more examples
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.
1992, Nick Logan, The Face, page 11-130This side of the training is effective in empowering employees to make better decisions on site, and helps to improve employee retention.
2021 November 17, Davie Carns, “Addressing the skills gap”, in RAIL, number 944, page 62Synonyms: inspire · Antonyms: disempower, dishearten, disspirit
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo give permission, power, or the legal right to do something.
verbTo give someone more confidence and/or strength to do something, often by enabling them to increase their control over their own life or situation.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
- Proto-Italic*en
- Proto-Italic*en-
- Latinin-
- Old Frenchen-
- Middle Englishen-
- Englishem-
- Proto-Indo-European*pótis
- Proto-Italic*potis
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁es-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ésti
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰuH-
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰúHt
- Proto-Italic*som
- Proto-Italic*possom
- Latinposse
- Vulgar Latinpotēre
- Old Frenchpooir
- Anglo-Normanpoer
- Middle Englishpower
- Englishpower
- Englishempower
Translations
Bulgarian упълномощавам
- упълномощавам (upălnomoštavam)to give permission to
Chinese Mandarin 授權 /授权, 賦予…的力量 /赋予…的力量
- 授權 /授权 (shòuquán)to give permission to
- 賦予…的力量 /赋予…的力量 (fùyǔ…de lìliàng)to give confidence and/or strength to
- 賦能 /赋能 (fùnéng)to give confidence and/or strength to
Czech zmocnit
- zmocnitto give permission to
Dutch volmacht geven, machtigen
- volmacht gevento give permission to
- machtigento give permission to
- bemoedigento give confidence and/or strength to
Estonian väestama, võimestama
- väestamato give confidence and/or strength to
- võimestamato give confidence and/or strength to
Finnish valtuuttaa, voimaannuttaa
- valtuuttaato give permission to
- voimaannuttaato give confidence and/or strength to
French autoriser, encapaciter
- autoriserto give permission to
- encapaciterto give confidence and/or strength to
German bevollmächtigen, ermächtigen
- bevollmächtigento give permission to
- ermächtigento give permission to
- befähigento give permission to
Greek εξουσιοδοτώ, παρέχω
- εξουσιοδοτώ (exousiodotó)to give permission to
- παρέχω (parécho)to give confidence and/or strength to
- ενδυναμώνω (endynamóno)to give confidence and/or strength to
Hungarian felhatalmaz, megerősít
- felhatalmazto give permission to
- megerősítto give confidence and/or strength to
Italian dare potere, permettere
- dare potereto give permission to
- permettereto give permission to
- incoraggiareto give confidence and/or strength to
- sostenereto give confidence and/or strength to
Māori whakamana, whakamana
- whakamanato give permission to
- whakamanato give confidence and/or strength to
- whakamanawato give confidence and/or strength to
Norwegian bemyndige
- bemyndigeto give permission to
Portuguese dar poderes a, permitir
- dar poderes ato give permission to
- permitirto give permission to
- empoderarto give confidence and/or strength to
Russian уполномо́чивать, предоставля́ть пра́во
- уполномо́чивать (upolnomóčivatʹ)to give permission to
- предоставля́ть пра́во (predostavljátʹ právo)to give permission to
Spanish apoderar, dar permiso
- apoderarto give permission to
- dar permisoto give permission to
- inspirar ato give confidence and/or strength to
- facultarto give confidence and/or strength to
- empoderarto give confidence and/or strength to
Swedish bemyndiga, befullmäktiga
- bemyndigato give permission to
- befullmäktigato give permission to
- tillåtato give permission to
- berättigato give permission to
- stärkato give confidence and/or strength to
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with empower
Cite this entry
empower. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/empower
“empower.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/empower. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “empower,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/empower.
Source: empower on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.