Synonyms of "Power", Words Related to Power, and (Hidden) Assumptions about Social Power
You might think that power is a topic that only philosophers, political scientists, and maybe also historians talk about. But really, we all talk and think about power quite a lot without even realizing it. We just do not necessarily use the word "power". Each individual constantly makes all sorts of assumptions about power: their power and power of other people.
NOTE: I have already briefly discussed meanings of power that are not directly related to human beings (like, electricity or magnification). However, as I am primarily interested in understanding people and their relationships, in this project I want to focus specifically on social power. (I often call it just "power" as I am talking about individuals and social interactions.)
So, what makes me think that people are constantly thinking and talking about power? As I have discussed on a different page, “power” is almost (always) related to abilities and influences. And people are constantly preoccupied with abilities and influences. This preoccupation is revealed in language. After briefly exploring meanings of power in several languages, I came up with a list of definitions power, which can also be called synonyms of "power". I divided them into two groups according to whether each of these definitions/synonyms is primarily related to abilities or influences (with a caveat and abilities and influences are two side of the same coin):
Ability: ability, capacity, energy, impetus, strength, vigor, force, vitality, faculty, aptitude, competency, productivity, fortitude, perseverance
Influence: effect, authority, right, control, influence, force, might, rule, dominion, grip, sway, proxy, prestige, impact, pressure, clout, violence, dominance, action
[I intentionally put "force" in two different categories.]
Why should you believe me when I claim that each time we use any of these words, we talk about power? First of all, notice how the idea of ability and the idea of influence are both related to the idea of power. Quite simply, ability is power to, and influence is power over. For example, you can notice that the phrase "I am able to lift this big stone" means the same as “I have power to lift this big stone”. And if I say, "I influence the outcome of this situation" I essentially mean “I have power over the outcome of this situation”.
If you take a closer look at the list of definitions/synonyms of power, you should be able to notice how they are related between themselves, and how they are all related to the idea of power. We can imaging substituting these words in a sentence with a word power -- although, admittedly, in some cases this substitution will produce a sentence that you would not use in an everyday conversation.
POWER TO: I can do = I have ability to do = I have capacity to do = I have energy to do = I have strength to do. Ability = capacity = competency = faculty = aptitude. Energy = vigor = vitality. Impetus = strength = fortitude. Productivity = power to produce, create; perseverance = power to keep doing.
Examples of substituting these words in a sentence:
"I do not have any strength today. I need to lay down." > "I am out of power today. I need to lay down."
"I have zero energy to do this." > "I have zero power to do this."
"This person has high productivity." > "This person has power to produce X result."
POWER OVER: I can control = I have power over. I have an effect = I impact = I influence = I produce an action. I have authority = I control = I rule. I force = I dominate = I pressure = I violate = I use might. I have authority = I have the right. Proxy = authority. I have control over = I have grip on. I have sway = I have prestige = I have clout (and I can use them to influence others).
Examples of substituting these words in a sentence:
"You cannot control me." > "You do not have power over me."
"Do not violate this rule." > "Do not use your power to break this rule."
"His prestige increased." > "His status that gives him power (over others) increased."
"Get a grip!" > "Take control of the situation." > "Get your power over the situation."
All the definitions/synonyms of power are important words that people use to think about or discuss themselves and their relationships. And all these words are about power.
Even if you might not routinely use all of these words (you might not often say "sway" and "fortitude"), I am sure that a few on this list you use a lot: ability, energy, strength, control, effect. The high frequency of these words in everyday language is a good reason to believe that we constantly think and talk about power. But that's not all.
On a different page, I pointed out that the modal verb "can" (and its equivalents in other languages) is essentially about power. And we use this verb all the time. We also often use such words as “possibly,” “possibility,” and “possible” - and these words have direct semantical and etymological connection to power. "Power" comes from Latin "posse" - to be able; "possibility" comes from the same ancient root. Notice how phrases "I can do this", "I have power to do this", and "It is possible for me to this" mean essentially the same thing. This claim still holds even though "I can" cannot always be easily substitute with "I have power to" in everyday language ("I can speak Russian" sounds natural, but "I have power to speak Russian" is not).
It's important to note that on a deeper etymological and sematic levels, the English modal verb "can" is related to "know" and "knowledge". In English, this relationship can be see in such phrases as "I know how to sing" (= "I can sing"). In some other languages, "know" can literally mean "be able to": for example, in Spanish ("Se cantar", where "se" comes from "saber"=know) and French ("Je sais chanter"). In German, können = be able, while kennen = to know.
This brief analysis suggests that power is often implied when we talk about abilities and influences while using a variety of terms. Now, if you pay closer attention, when any of the words listed above come up, you should be able to notice the connection. And then, you might actually be able to start noticing other words that and expressions that we use to talk about power – words that seem less related to power on the surface but are actually closely related to it. And the more of these words you notice, the more you should become aware of how synonyms of "power" and concepts related to it are used to describe really important aspects of human culture and society.
For example, take the word “law.” I did not find it listed as one of the definitions of power (at least, not in the six languages that I briefly surveyed). But it should not be too hard to see the connection between laws and power. Laws are about rights and authority. Laws are rules. Laws are created for the purpose of control. Law are regulations that govern people's behavior. Laws describe what is allowed and what is prohibited. In this paragraph, I italicized a few words; some of them we have already considered in relation to power, others – not yet. But you should be able to see how they all are related. In particular, the word "allowed" describes relationships that lie on the intersection of ability and influence, something that I call elsewhere "may" power. (Side note: "may" comes from Old English mæg, of Germanic origin, from a base meaning "have power"; it is related to German mögen, and to English word "main" and "might").
Another two concepts, related between themselves, crucial for human worldviews and social interactions, and directly tied to power, are these: blame and responsibility. It is possible that you might not have ever thought about these concepts as having anything in to do with power. But consider this: what does it mean when we say that somebody is responsible for something bad that has happened (in other words, when we blame them for what has happened)? It means that we are saying that they had power over the outcome of the situation. They had power to do things differently, but did not. If someone is late and you are angry at them for being late (i.e., you blame them for being late), it means that you believe that they could have been on time but, as as result of some unfortunate choices, ended up being late. You do not blame a person for being late if you believe that they had no power over the situation, that they had no power to do thigs differently.
Based on the previous paragraph, you should now be able to notice to the ideas of choice and freedom are also related to the idea of power. Being free means being able to do things you want to do; it means having power to things you want to do; it means having power to make choices. And the other way around: not being free means not having power to choose. We know that choice is associated with power because we perceive people who cannot choose as powerless. In other words, choice is equated with power while lack of choice is equated with powerlessness.
Having acknowledged the connection with such concepts as choice, freedom, responsibility, and blame, one should be able to see deep philosophical roots of the discussion about power. It turns out that many thinkers have talked -- and argued -- about power for centuries. Only they have typically not described their debates as conversations about power (although this word has certainly been used in the process). Their key term of this conversations has been different: free will. Free will, quite simply, is the ability to make choices that are free from internal or external determination. Notably, Britannica defines free will as "the supposed power or capacity of humans to make decisions or perform actions independently of any prior event or state of the universe."
You might think that the conversation about free will, and the topic of free will in general, has little to do with our everyday life. It is probably just something that can only interest philosophers (these guys with too much free time on their hands). But, really, we all make assumptions about free will every day, and these assumptions impact what we think about ourselves, how we act in the world, and how we interact with each other. Whenever you blame somebody for something, whenever you feel that someone need to experience consequences of their actions (e.g., be punished for their choices), you use your assumptions about free will. Systems of rules and associated punishments (sanctions) and rewards that permeate society are all based on assumptions about free will -- that is, on assumptions about power.
SOURCES:
Free will. (2024). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/free-will
NOTE: I have already briefly discussed meanings of power that are not directly related to human beings (like, electricity or magnification). However, as I am primarily interested in understanding people and their relationships, in this project I want to focus specifically on social power. (I often call it just "power" as I am talking about individuals and social interactions.)
So, what makes me think that people are constantly thinking and talking about power? As I have discussed on a different page, “power” is almost (always) related to abilities and influences. And people are constantly preoccupied with abilities and influences. This preoccupation is revealed in language. After briefly exploring meanings of power in several languages, I came up with a list of definitions power, which can also be called synonyms of "power". I divided them into two groups according to whether each of these definitions/synonyms is primarily related to abilities or influences (with a caveat and abilities and influences are two side of the same coin):
Ability: ability, capacity, energy, impetus, strength, vigor, force, vitality, faculty, aptitude, competency, productivity, fortitude, perseverance
Influence: effect, authority, right, control, influence, force, might, rule, dominion, grip, sway, proxy, prestige, impact, pressure, clout, violence, dominance, action
[I intentionally put "force" in two different categories.]
Why should you believe me when I claim that each time we use any of these words, we talk about power? First of all, notice how the idea of ability and the idea of influence are both related to the idea of power. Quite simply, ability is power to, and influence is power over. For example, you can notice that the phrase "I am able to lift this big stone" means the same as “I have power to lift this big stone”. And if I say, "I influence the outcome of this situation" I essentially mean “I have power over the outcome of this situation”.
If you take a closer look at the list of definitions/synonyms of power, you should be able to notice how they are related between themselves, and how they are all related to the idea of power. We can imaging substituting these words in a sentence with a word power -- although, admittedly, in some cases this substitution will produce a sentence that you would not use in an everyday conversation.
POWER TO: I can do = I have ability to do = I have capacity to do = I have energy to do = I have strength to do. Ability = capacity = competency = faculty = aptitude. Energy = vigor = vitality. Impetus = strength = fortitude. Productivity = power to produce, create; perseverance = power to keep doing.
Examples of substituting these words in a sentence:
"I do not have any strength today. I need to lay down." > "I am out of power today. I need to lay down."
"I have zero energy to do this." > "I have zero power to do this."
"This person has high productivity." > "This person has power to produce X result."
POWER OVER: I can control = I have power over. I have an effect = I impact = I influence = I produce an action. I have authority = I control = I rule. I force = I dominate = I pressure = I violate = I use might. I have authority = I have the right. Proxy = authority. I have control over = I have grip on. I have sway = I have prestige = I have clout (and I can use them to influence others).
Examples of substituting these words in a sentence:
"You cannot control me." > "You do not have power over me."
"Do not violate this rule." > "Do not use your power to break this rule."
"His prestige increased." > "His status that gives him power (over others) increased."
"Get a grip!" > "Take control of the situation." > "Get your power over the situation."
All the definitions/synonyms of power are important words that people use to think about or discuss themselves and their relationships. And all these words are about power.
Even if you might not routinely use all of these words (you might not often say "sway" and "fortitude"), I am sure that a few on this list you use a lot: ability, energy, strength, control, effect. The high frequency of these words in everyday language is a good reason to believe that we constantly think and talk about power. But that's not all.
On a different page, I pointed out that the modal verb "can" (and its equivalents in other languages) is essentially about power. And we use this verb all the time. We also often use such words as “possibly,” “possibility,” and “possible” - and these words have direct semantical and etymological connection to power. "Power" comes from Latin "posse" - to be able; "possibility" comes from the same ancient root. Notice how phrases "I can do this", "I have power to do this", and "It is possible for me to this" mean essentially the same thing. This claim still holds even though "I can" cannot always be easily substitute with "I have power to" in everyday language ("I can speak Russian" sounds natural, but "I have power to speak Russian" is not).
It's important to note that on a deeper etymological and sematic levels, the English modal verb "can" is related to "know" and "knowledge". In English, this relationship can be see in such phrases as "I know how to sing" (= "I can sing"). In some other languages, "know" can literally mean "be able to": for example, in Spanish ("Se cantar", where "se" comes from "saber"=know) and French ("Je sais chanter"). In German, können = be able, while kennen = to know.
This brief analysis suggests that power is often implied when we talk about abilities and influences while using a variety of terms. Now, if you pay closer attention, when any of the words listed above come up, you should be able to notice the connection. And then, you might actually be able to start noticing other words that and expressions that we use to talk about power – words that seem less related to power on the surface but are actually closely related to it. And the more of these words you notice, the more you should become aware of how synonyms of "power" and concepts related to it are used to describe really important aspects of human culture and society.
For example, take the word “law.” I did not find it listed as one of the definitions of power (at least, not in the six languages that I briefly surveyed). But it should not be too hard to see the connection between laws and power. Laws are about rights and authority. Laws are rules. Laws are created for the purpose of control. Law are regulations that govern people's behavior. Laws describe what is allowed and what is prohibited. In this paragraph, I italicized a few words; some of them we have already considered in relation to power, others – not yet. But you should be able to see how they all are related. In particular, the word "allowed" describes relationships that lie on the intersection of ability and influence, something that I call elsewhere "may" power. (Side note: "may" comes from Old English mæg, of Germanic origin, from a base meaning "have power"; it is related to German mögen, and to English word "main" and "might").
Another two concepts, related between themselves, crucial for human worldviews and social interactions, and directly tied to power, are these: blame and responsibility. It is possible that you might not have ever thought about these concepts as having anything in to do with power. But consider this: what does it mean when we say that somebody is responsible for something bad that has happened (in other words, when we blame them for what has happened)? It means that we are saying that they had power over the outcome of the situation. They had power to do things differently, but did not. If someone is late and you are angry at them for being late (i.e., you blame them for being late), it means that you believe that they could have been on time but, as as result of some unfortunate choices, ended up being late. You do not blame a person for being late if you believe that they had no power over the situation, that they had no power to do thigs differently.
Based on the previous paragraph, you should now be able to notice to the ideas of choice and freedom are also related to the idea of power. Being free means being able to do things you want to do; it means having power to things you want to do; it means having power to make choices. And the other way around: not being free means not having power to choose. We know that choice is associated with power because we perceive people who cannot choose as powerless. In other words, choice is equated with power while lack of choice is equated with powerlessness.
Having acknowledged the connection with such concepts as choice, freedom, responsibility, and blame, one should be able to see deep philosophical roots of the discussion about power. It turns out that many thinkers have talked -- and argued -- about power for centuries. Only they have typically not described their debates as conversations about power (although this word has certainly been used in the process). Their key term of this conversations has been different: free will. Free will, quite simply, is the ability to make choices that are free from internal or external determination. Notably, Britannica defines free will as "the supposed power or capacity of humans to make decisions or perform actions independently of any prior event or state of the universe."
You might think that the conversation about free will, and the topic of free will in general, has little to do with our everyday life. It is probably just something that can only interest philosophers (these guys with too much free time on their hands). But, really, we all make assumptions about free will every day, and these assumptions impact what we think about ourselves, how we act in the world, and how we interact with each other. Whenever you blame somebody for something, whenever you feel that someone need to experience consequences of their actions (e.g., be punished for their choices), you use your assumptions about free will. Systems of rules and associated punishments (sanctions) and rewards that permeate society are all based on assumptions about free will -- that is, on assumptions about power.
SOURCES:
Free will. (2024). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/free-will