POWER

9 definitions found across Law Mind sources

← Dictionary
POWERAuthored
The Law Mind • 1702 words
Definition
1. Property law. An authority conferred on one person to do an act affecting real property — creating, revoking, or charging an estate — that the grantor of the power could have performed personally. A power in this sense is derivative: it enables the holder (the donee) to act as the grantor's instrument with respect to property the donee does not own. The classic example is a power of appointment, by which a grantor authorizes a donee to designate who will receive property from a trust or estate. 2. General legal sense. The legal capacity to produce a legal effect — to alter a legal relation, create a right, or impose a duty — through one's own act. In Hohfeldian analysis, a power is distinct from a right: a right runs against others (they have a correlative duty); a power runs against legal relations themselves (its correlative is a liability in another to have their legal position changed). This distinction is often collapsed in practice and in older sources. 3. Public law. The authority vested in a governmental body — legislative, executive, or judicial — to act within its sphere. Constitutional powers may be enumerated (expressly granted), implied (necessary and proper to execute enumerated powers), or inherent (derived from sovereignty itself). The separation of these powers among branches is a structural feature of modern constitutional government. 4. Agency and contract. Authority granted by one person to another to act on their behalf. In this sense "power" overlaps substantially with "authority," though technical usage sometimes reserves "power" for the legal capacity to bind and "authority" for the permission to act. ---
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Impressive. [Note: the submitted Wiktionary entry appears incomplete or misdirected; the ordinary English sense of "power" is the ability or capacity to do something, or physical or political force.] Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): The submitted Webster's entry appears misdirected. In standard 19th-century general usage, "power" denoted strength, authority, or the capacity to act — closely aligned with its legal meaning. The gap between ordinary and legal usage is real but subtle. In everyday speech, "power" implies factual capacity — you have the power to do something if you are physically or practically able. In law, power is a term of art describing a legally recognized and conferred capacity to alter legal relations. A person may have the factual ability to sign a deed but lack the legal power to do so validly. Conversely, a trustee may hold legal power over property without any beneficial interest in it. The distinction between power and right — though blurred in both lay and legal usage — is where much of the analytical work in property and constitutional law actually happens. ---
Common Confusion
Power vs. Right: These terms are routinely used interchangeably in older sources and in everyday legal writing, but the distinction matters. A right is a claim that others act or refrain from acting in a certain way. A power is the capacity to change a legal relationship — one's own or another's. Bouvier acknowledges the distinction is "very shadowy and unsubstantial" in practice while still preserving it technically. Rapalje & Lawrence is more direct: "strictly speaking a power is that which creates a special or exceptional right, or enables a person to do something which he could not otherwise do." Researchers reading older statutes and cases should not assume these terms were used with analytical precision. Power vs. Privilege: In Hohfeldian analysis, a privilege (or liberty) is the absence of a duty. A power is the capacity to alter legal relations. Confusing them produces errors in property and constitutional analysis, though the distinction rarely surfaces explicitly in primary sources before the 20th century. Power vs. Authority: In agency contexts, these words often appear interchangeably. When courts or instruments distinguish them, "authority" typically refers to the permission granted by a principal, while "power" refers to the legal effect — the capacity to bind the principal to third parties. An agent may have authority without power (e.g., if the principal lacked capacity) or, in cases of apparent authority, power without actual authority. ---
Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES Mere powers: Powers that are purely permissive — the donee may or may not exercise them. Distinguished from powers in the nature of trusts, which impose a duty to act. Powers coupled with an interest: Powers granted to an agent or donee who also holds an interest in the property affected. These are generally irrevocable and survive the grantor's death or incapacity. Powers of appointment: Powers authorizing a donee to designate recipients of property held in trust or under a will. Subdivided into general powers (exercisable in favor of anyone, including the donee or the donee's estate) and special (or limited) powers (exercisable only in favor of a defined class). Powers under the Statute of Uses: A historically significant category in English property law; powers operating through the Statute of Uses (1535) enabled the creation and shifting of legal estates through declared uses. This category is foundational to understanding the development of trusts and future interests. Governmental powers (constitutional): Enumerated powers (expressly granted in the constitutional text), implied powers (reasonably necessary to carry out enumerated powers), inherent powers (flowing from sovereignty or the nature of a governmental office), and reserved powers (retained by states or the people under federal constitutional structures). ---
Why It Matters in Research
"Power" is one of the most overloaded terms in the law. Researchers must identify which sense is operative before any analysis can proceed — and older sources frequently slide between meanings without signaling the shift. In property research, the central navigation challenge is the historical development of powers of appointment and the influence of the Statute of Uses. English equity courts and early American courts inherited a body of doctrine that distinguished powers from legal ownership, trusts, and mere licenses in ways that controlled who took property and when. Researchers working with instruments from the 17th through 19th centuries will encounter powers described in terminology that does not map neatly onto modern doctrinal categories. In constitutional research, "power" carries structural freight that "right" and "authority" do not. The tripartite division of governmental power — legislative, executive, judicial — is the organizing principle of American constitutional law. The Law Mind corpus addresses enumerated powers and the Necessary and Proper Clause directly; researchers should use that encyclopedia entry as a gateway to the broader constitutional literature before diving into primary sources. In agency and commercial research, the practical question is usually whether a particular act bound the principal. Courts historically used "power" to describe this binding capacity and often did not clearly separate it from "authority." Researchers analyzing pre-20th-century agency disputes should expect terminological imprecision. Corpus connection: The Bouvier entries in the Law Mind corpus connect "power" to discussions of executive and judicial power that are handled under separate titles. Researchers should chase those cross-references; the Bouvier entries on this term are deliberately synoptic. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
The historical sources converge on the property-law definition as the primary technical meaning but handle the broader senses inconsistently. Black's (both editions) leads with the property definition and anchors it to the Dakota and Michigan civil codes — a useful reminder that 19th-century American jurisdictions were actively codifying doctrines inherited from English equity. The formula ("an authority to do some act in relation to real property ... which the owner granting or reserving such power might himself perform") is the working definition for powers of appointment throughout the 19th century and into the 20th. Rapalje & Lawrence offers the clearest analytical statement: a power "creates a special or exceptional right, or enables a person to do something which he could not otherwise do." This is closer to the Hohfeldian analysis than most contemporaries managed. Rapalje & Lawrence also begins a treatment of the distinction between mere powers and powers in the nature of trusts — a distinction with real doctrinal stakes for whether a donee can be compelled to act. Bouvier is the most expansive source but also the most diffuse. The treatment spans property powers, the public law sense, and the distinction between power and right — though Bouvier frankly concedes the right/power distinction has little practical traction in the courts. Bouvier's cross-references to executive and judicial power reflect the encyclopedia-style organization that makes navigating the Bouvier entries in the Law Mind corpus a multi-step exercise. What the historical sources miss or underweight: the Hohfeldian framework for analyzing powers as a distinct jural relation is entirely absent, which is expected given the chronology. Researchers should not look to these sources for rigorous power/right/privilege distinctions. The sources are also thin on implied and inherent governmental powers as a doctrinal category — the constitutional dimensions are gestured at but not developed. ---
Jurisdictional Note
In property law, the rules governing powers of appointment — particularly the tax consequences of general versus special powers — are now heavily influenced by federal law, making jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction variation less significant for modern research than it once was. In constitutional law, the allocation of powers is by definition jurisdiction-specific: federal powers are enumerated and limited; state powers are plenary subject to constitutional constraints. Researchers should not transpose federal constitutional power analysis into state constitutional contexts without checking whether the relevant state constitution follows a similar structure. ---
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Congressional Power — Enumerated Powers and the Necessary and Proper Clause (Law Mind Constitutional Law Encyclopedia): Essential for research into the scope and limits of federal legislative power, implied powers doctrine, and the historical development of Commerce Clause and spending power jurisprudence. ---
Related Terms
Power of appointment — Power coupled with an interest — Power of attorney — Authority (agency) — Right — Privilege (Hohfeldian) — Duty — Liability — Trust — Statute of Uses — Enumerated powers — Implied powers — Inherent powers — Separation of powers — Donee — Donor — General power — Special power — Revocation — Estate (property)
POWERmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
A power is an authority to do some act in relation to real property, or to the creation or revocation of an estate therein, or a charge thereon, which the own- er granting or reserving such power might himself perform for any purpose. Civil Code Dak. § 298; How. St. Mich. § 5591. "Power" is sometimes used in the same sense as "right," as when we speak of the powers of user and disposition which the owner of property has over it, but, strictly speaking, a power is that which creates a special or exceptional right, or enables a person to do something which he could not other- wise do. Sweet. one Technically, an authority by which person enables another to do some act for him. 2 Lil. Abr. 339. An authority enabling a person to dispose, through the medium of the statute of uses, of an interest, vested either in himself or in another person. Sugd. Powers, 82. An au- thority expressly reserved to a grantor, or expressly given to another, to be exercised over lands, etc., granted or conveyed at the time of the creation of such power. Watk. Conv. 157. A proviso, in a conveyance un- der the statute of uses, giving to the grantor or grantee, or a stranger, authority to re- voke or alter by a subsequent act the estate first granted. 1 Steph. Comm. 505. See
POWERmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
Im real property law. A power is an authority to do some act in relution to real property, or to the creation or revocation of an estate therein, or a charge thereon, which the owner granting or reserving such power might himself perform for any purpose. Civ. Code Dak. § 298; How. St. Mich. § 5591. “Power” is sometimes used in the same sense as “right,” as when we speak of the powers of user and disposition which the owner of property bas over it, but, strictly speaking, a power is that which creates a special or exceptional right, or enables a person to do something which he could not otherwise do. Sweet. Technically, an authority by ‘which one person enables another to do some act for . him. 2 Lil. Abr. 339. An authority enabling a person to dispose, through the medium of the statute of uses, of an interest, vested either in himself or in another person. Sugd. Powers, 82. An authority expressly reserved to a grantor, or expressly given to another, to he exercised over lands, etc., granted or conveyed at the time of the creation of such power. Watk. Conv. 157. A proviso, in a conveyance under the statute of uses, giving to the grantor or grantee, or a stranger, authority to revoke or alter by a subsequent act the estate first granted. 1 Steph. Comm. 505. See also Burleigh v. Clough, 52 N. H. 267, 13 Am. Rep. 23; Griffith v. Maxfield, 66 Ark. 513, 51 S. W. 8382; Bouton v. Doty, 69 Conn. 531, 37 Atl. 1064; Dana v. Murray, 122 N. Y. 604, 26 N. E, 21; Carson v. Cochran, 52 Minn. 67, 53 N. W. 1130; Law Guarantee & Trust Co. v. Jones, 103 Tenn. 245, 58 S. W. 219. —General and special powers. <A power is general when it authorizes the alienation in fee, by means of a conveyance, will, or charge, of the lands embraced in the power to any alienee whatsoever. It is special (1) when the persons or class of persons to whom the disposition of the lands under the power is to be made are designated, or (2) when the power authorizes the alienation, by means of a conveyance, will, or charge, of a particular estate or interest less than a fee. Coster v. Lorillard, 14 Wend. (N. Y.) 324; Thompson v. Garwood. 3 Whart. (Pa.) 305, 81 Am. Dec. 502.—General and spe powers in trust. A general power is in trust when any person or class of persons other than the grantee of such power is designated as entitled to the proceeds or any portion of the proceeds or other benefits to result from the alienation. A special power is in trust (1) when the disposition or charge which it authorizes is limited to be made to any person or class of persons other than the holder of the power, or (2) when any person or class of persons other than the holder is designated as entitled to any benefit from the disposition or charge authorized by the power. Cutting v. Cutting, 20 Hun (N. Y.) 360; Dana v. Murray, 122 N. Y. 612. 26 N. E. 23; Wilson’s Rev. & Ann. St. Okl. 1903, §§ 4107, 4108. —Ministerial powers. A phrase used in English cone ane to denote powers given for the good, not of the donee himself exclusively, or of the donee himself necessarily at all, but for the good of several persons, including or not including the donee also. They are 60 called because the donee ef them is as a minister or servant in his exercise of them. Brown.—Naked power. One which is simply collateral and without interest in the donee, which arises when, to a mere stranger, author ity is given of disposing of an interest, in which he had not before, nor has by oa clean creating the power, any estate whatsoever. Berea & Bennett, 1 Caines Cas. (N. Y.) 15, 2 Am. Dec. 281; Atwater v. Perkins, 51 Conn. 198: Clark v. Hornthal. 47 Miss. 534; Hunt v. Ennis, 12 Fed. Cas. 915.—Powers appendant and in gross. <A power appendant is where a person has an estate in land, and the estate to created by the power is to, or sige take effect in possession during the tenancy 0 the estate to which the power is annexed. A power in gross is where the person to whom it is given has an estate in the land, but the estate to be created under or by virtue of the power is not to take effect gu oo i = termination of the estate to which it relates. Wilson v. Troup, 2 Cow. (N. Y.) 236, 14 Am. Dec. 458: Garland v. Smith, 164 Mo. 1, 64 S. W. 188. For other compound terms, such as “Power of Appointment,” “Power of Sale,” etc., see the following titles. In constitutional law. The right to take action in respect to a particular subject-matter or class of matters, involving more or less of discretion, granted by the constitutions to the several departments or branches of the government, or reserved to the people. Powers in this sense are generally classified as legislative, executive, and judicial. See those titles. —Implied powers are such as are necessary to make available and carry into effect those wers which are expressly granted or conerred, and which must therefore be presumed to have been within the intention of the constitutional or legislative grant. Madison v. Daley (C. C.) 58 Fed. 755; People v. Pullman’s Palace Car Co., 175 Ill. 125, 51 N. E. 664, 64 L. R. A. 366; First M. E. Church v. Dixon, 178 Ill. 260, 52 N. E. 887. (Se a oo. _ In the law of corporations. The right or capacity to act or be acted upon in a particular manner or in respect to a particular subject; as, the power to have a corporate seal, to sue and be sued, to make by-laws, to carry on a particular business or construct a given work. See Freligh v. Saugerties, 10 Hun, 589, 24 N. Y. Supp. 182; In re Lima & H. F. Ry. Co., 68 Hun, 252, 22 N. Y. Supp. $67; Baltimore v. Marriott, 9 Md. 160.
POWERmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883
(987) guished by the names following: (1) Rouge: 84. Mere powers-Powers in the Croix. Instituted at an uncertain period, but nature of trusts. - Powers must be disgenerally considered to be the most ancient. The title was doubtless derived from the cross tinguished from trusts: "Powers are never of St. George. (2) Blue Mantle. An office inimperative-they leave the act to be done stituted by Edward III. or Henry V., and named either in allusion to the color of the arms of at the will of the party to whom they are France or to that of the robes of the Order of given. Trusts are always imperative." the Garter. (3) Rouge Dragon. This poursui- (Att. Gen. v. Lady Downing, Wilm. 23.) vancy was founded by Henry VII. on the day before his coronation, the name being derived from the ensign of his ancestor, Cadwaladyr. He also assumed a red dragon as the dexter supporter of his arms. (4) Portcullis. This office was instituted by the same monarch, from one of whose badges the title was derived. As to the office of poursuivant of the Great Seal, see 37 and 38 Vict. c. 81.- Wharton. POURVEYANCE, or PURVEY- (988) (especially in the case of settlements) the "trustee of the power." Elph. Conv. 328,) to such uses as B. shall appoint, and B. appoints or declares the uses to C. for life, and after C.'s death to himself in fee, then the legal estate passes to C. for his life with remainder to B., as if the estates had been originally so conveyed to them. See APPOINTMENT, 21; USE. 8.- or extinguish the power. Thus, executors who have a merely collateral power to sell land cannot release or extinguish it. Sudg. Pow. 46 et seq., 906; Co. Litt. 265b, 237a; Wats. Comp. Eq. 758. 11. Equitable. - Equitable powers are analogous to legal powers. Thus, if land or stock is vested in trustees upon such trusts as B. shall appoint, and B. appoints it to C., the legal ownership of the land or stock remains in the trustees, but the equitable ownership passes to C., and he can compel the trustees to convey the land or transfer the stock to him. Wms. Pers. Prop. 319. by will.-Powers operating under the Statute of Wills are similar to those operating by way of use, except that they can be created and take effect with greater freedom; thus, if a testator directs his executors to sell his land, without devising it to them, a sale by them operates as the execution of a power to dispose of the land, although they have no ownership in it, and the purchaser takes as devisee under the will. Wms. Real Prop. 314. See isting estates, and (2) powers of appoint- (989) partially, so that he does not appear to have intended to make the property part of his estate for all purposes, then if the appointment fails the property results to the donor of the power. (See In re Van Hagen, 16 Ch. D. 18.) An analogous rule prevails in cases of conversion (see that title, & 5). See ADMINISTRATION, & 2. 14. Limited: Special. A limited power is either special or particular. A special power is one which is restricted as to the nature or duration of the estates or interests to be created under it, as in the case of a power to grant leases by appointment for certain terms frequently given to the tenant for life under a settlement. 15. Particular. - A particular power is one which is restricted as to its objects or the persons in whose favor it may be exercised, as in the case of a power to appoint property among a certain class only (e. g. the children of the donee); but the terms "special" and "particular" are frequently used as synonymous. Wms. Real Prop. 306 et seq; Sugd. Pow. 394. every modern settlement created by will or deed, either by express provision or by statutory enactment. So a power of distress and entry may be inserted in a deed to enable the donee to enter and distrain on certain land of the donor, to enforce the performance of some covenant, e. g. the payment of an annuity. See DISTRESS, 28. For other examples of powers, see PRÆCIPE. (990) rance of the death of the person who gave the power, or of his having done some act to avoid it, is not liable for the money so paid or the act so done. Similar statutory provisions exist in many if not all of the States. 25. The English Conveyancing Act, 1881, contains the following provisions in regard to powers of attorney. The donee of a power of attorney may act in and with his own name, signature and seal instead of the name, signature and seal of the donor. (§ 46.) Any person making or doing any payment or act in good faith, in pursuance of a power of attorney, is not to be liable by reason that the donor of the power had previously died, or become lunatic, or bankrupt, or revoked the power, provided such fact was not known to him at the time. (247.) A power of attorney may be deposited in the central office of the Supreme Court, on its execution being verified by affidavit or otherwise. The file of powers so deposited may be searched, and an office copy of any power obtained, by any person on payment of the office fees. An office copy is sufficient evidence of the contents of the original instrument. (248.) A married woman, whether an infant or not, is to have power, as if she were unmarried and of full age, to appoint an attorney on her behalf to do anything which she herself might do. ¿ 40. POWER OF ATTORNEY, (implies a power under seal). 8 Pick. (Mass.) 490. POWERS, (in a statute). 12 Pet. (U. S.) 636. POWERS, OTHER PROPER AND REASONABLE, (in a will). 6 Sim. 152.
POWERn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
Same as Poor, the fish.
POWERn.
Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913
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. "One next himself in power, and next in crime." Milton. 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. "The power of fancy." Shak. Capacity of undergoing or suffering; fitness to be acted upon; susceptibility; -- called also passive power; as, great power of endurance. Power, then, is active and passive; faculty is active power or capacity; capacity is passive power. Sir W. Hamilton. The exercise of a faculty; the employment of strength; the exercise of any kind of control; influence; dominion; sway; command; government. Power is no blessing in itself but when it is employed to protect the innocent. Swift. 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. "The powers of darkness." Milton. And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Matt. xxiv. 29. A military or naval force; an army or navy; a great host. Spenser. Never such a power . . . Was levied in the body of a land. Shak. A large quantity; a great number; as, a power o. [Colloq.] Richardson. 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. A mechanical agent; that from which useful mechanical energy is derived; as, water power; steam power; hand power, etc. Applied force; force producing motion or pressure; as, the power applied at one and of a lever to lift a weight at the other end. A machine acted upon by an animal, and serving as a motor to drive other machinery; as, a dog power. 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. 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. I. Watts. The guiltiness of my mind, the sudden surprise of my powers, drove the grossness . . . into a received belief. Shak. 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. An authority enabling a person to dispose of an interest vested either in himself or in another person; ownership by appointment. Wharton. Hence, vested authority to act in a given case; as, the business was referred to a committee with power.
poweradj
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
Impressive.
powerintj
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
Used as a cheer to express support
Powernoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.
A button of a computer, a video game console, or similar device, that when pressed, causes the device to be either shut down or powered up.

Explore the full Law Mind legal research platform.

SubscribeEncyclopediaSign In
The Law Mind Legal Dictionary. This is a legal research library, not a lawyer.
Dictionary • Encyclopedia • Sign In