Dictionary

horsepower en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• hôrsʹpou'ər (General-American)
• (US) audio
• /ˈhɔːsˌpaʊə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• hôsʹpou'ə (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈhɔɹsˌpaʊɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

From horse + power: the unit was originally defined as the amount of power that a horse could provide. Both non-metric and metric units of power were derived from effectively identical measurements of the power a draught horse could sustain over several hours, with the difference in watts solely due to different rounding errors to express that power in round numbers in the original non-SI units (ft·lbf/min and kgf⋅m/s respectively).

Meanings

1. (literally, uncountable) Power derived from the motion of a horse.
   • Shillibeer's bus came in 1829 drawn by three horses. Later two horses were found sufficient to pull these closed wagonettes, which eventually had outside seats, and later on the substitution of a motor for horsepower. 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 86:
   • The wheel was to have been turned by horsepower, but it was adapted to be driven by a mill-wheel on the river Derwent […] 2003, Gavin Weightman, What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us, page 57:
   • The Sun Inn is an attractive black-and-white building, and has an old mounting block outside as a reminder of the days when horsepower meant four legs and a saddle. 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 150:
2. (countable, uncountable) A nonmetric unit of power with various definitions, commonly the mechanical horsepower, approximately equal to 745.7 watts.
   • In the past, before the widespread adoption of SI units, the work that engines were capable of doing was compared with the work that horses could do – hence the term ‘horsepower’. Various people came up with various equivalencies, but the modern agreed definition is that 1 horsepower is 746 joules per second or 746 watts. 2012 March 22nd, David Blockley, Engineering: A Very Short Introduction (309), Oxford University Press, chapter 2: “The age of gravity – time for work”, page 20
   • As Quincy recovered from our one-block adrenaline burst, I gunned all 700 horsepower once more. Even with the pedal to the metal, the Exelero's sheer bulk caused a multisecond lag from the twin-turbo-charged V12's wind-up to actual launch. 2007 January 24, Sue Callaway, “Jonesing for a Maybach”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Apr 2009:
   • Equally I can stand in a station like Lucerne in Switzerland, and watch with ill-concealed admiration the majestic entry of one of the latest Gotthard "Ae 6/6" electrics, packing 6,000 horsepower within its 60 ft. of length and 121 tons of weight, with its sleek dark green sides and handsome stainless steel bands and front wings. 1955 April, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 261:
3. (countable, uncountable) Metric horsepower, a metric unit approximately equal to 735.5 watts.
4. (figuratively, uncountable) Strength, performance capability, specs, or similar.
   • My patron who sent this to me to do a whole video on, you know, Convergence or whatever, being able to use this as a desktop, uh, replacement, or at least a desktop type thing, it’s impossible for me, I can’t do it, this device just doesn’t have that type of horsepower even to run itself, let alone actually run desktop Linux, it just can’t do it, I haven’t figured out how to do it. 2024 May 3, The Linux Cast, 8:35 from the start, in I Need to Apologize... This Device is Bad:
   • political horsepower

Forms

Deriveds

horsepower-hour · mechanical horsepower · equivalent shaft horsepower · hydraulic horsepower · tax horsepower · brake horsepower · thermal horsepower · shaft horsepower · metric horsepower

Synonyms

PS · hp

Translations (117)

el ίππος (metric) · mk коњска сила (metric) · pdt Pieetskrauft (metric) · sh коњска снага (metric) · uz ot kuchi (metric) · lt arklio galia (non-metric) · id tenaga kuda (non-metric) · sah ат күүһэ (non-metric) · ka ცხენის ძალა (non-metric) · ko 마력 (metric) · fi vääntövoima (strength) · az at gücü (metric) · be ко́нская сі́ла (non-metric) · hi अश्वशक्ति (metric) · fo hestakraft (non-metric) · pt cavalo-vapor (metric) · cmn 馬力 /马力 (non-metric) · es caballo de vapor (non-metric) · lt arklio galia (metric) · km ហយពល (metric) · tk at güýji (metric) · uk кі́нська си́ла (metric) · mk коњска сила (non-metric) · de Pferdestärke (non-metric) · es caballo de fuerza (non-metric) · fa اسب بخار (metric) · ru лошади́ная си́ла (metric) · hu (gépi) lóerő (non-metric) · nl macht (strength) · pl koń parowy (non-metric) · pt força (strength) · km អស្វឫទ្ធិ (non-metric) · sk kôň (metric) · lv zirgspēks (non-metric) · ml കുതിരശക്തി (non-metric) · no hestekraft (metric) · ca cavall de vapor (metric) · ur اسپی طاقت (metric) · ml കുതിരശക്തി (metric) · sl konjska moč (metric) · es caballo de vapor (metric) · cs koňská síla (non-metric) · nb hestekraft (metric) · ms kuasa kuda (non-metric) · tr beygir gücü (metric) · eo ĉevalpovo (non-metric) · ko 마력 (non-metric) · ja 馬力 (metric) · pt cavalo de vapor (metric) · pdt Pieetskrauft (non-metric) · cs koňská síla (metric) · ar حِصَان (metric) · cmn 馬力 /马力 (strength) · cmn 馬力 /马力 (metric) · uk кі́нська си́ла (non-metric) · ja 馬力 (non-metric) · nl (metrieke) paardenkracht (metric) · km អស្វឫទ្ធិ (metric) · be ко́нская сі́ла (metric) · pl koń mechaniczny (metric) · bg ко́нска си́ла (metric) · fi hevosvoima (non-metric) · mn морины хүч (metric) · ru лошади́ная си́ла (non-metric) · sk strojný kôň (metric) · fi hevosvoima (metric) · nn hestekraft (metric) · sh коњска снага (non-metric) · da hestekraft (non-metric) · ga each-chumhacht (non-metric) · ru л. с. (metric) · it cavallo vapore (non-metric) · ta குதிரைத் திறன் (metric) · es caballo de potencia (non-metric) · sh konjska snaga (non-metric) · pl koń mechaniczny (strength) · hy ձիաուժ (metric) · da hestekraft (metric) · ms kuasa kuda (metric) · fr cheval-vapeur (metric) · nb hestekraft (non-metric) · km ហយពល (non-metric) · ro cal-putere (non-metric) · sh konjska snaga (metric) · ro cal-putere (metric) · vi mã lực (metric) · fo hestakraft (metric) · cv лаша вӑйӗ (metric) · sk konská sila (metric) · nn hestekraft (non-metric) · vi mã lực (non-metric) · et hobujõud (non-metric) · nl (mechanische) paardenkracht (non-metric) · sk konská sila (non-metric) · te అశ్వ సామర్థ్యం (metric) · de Pferdestärke (metric) · et hobujõud (metric) · bg ко́нска си́ла (non-metric) · tl kabalyo (non-metric) · sv hästkraft (metric) · kk ат күші (metric) · he כּוֹחַ סוּס (metric) · it cavallo vapore (metric) · lv zirgspēks (metric) · hu (metrikus) lóerő (metric) · pt cavalo-vapor (non-metric) · sl konjska moč (non-metric) · th แรงม้า (non-metric) · gl cabalo de vapor (metric) · ru лошади́ная си́ла (strength) · sv hästkraft (non-metric) · th แรงม้า (metric) · id daya kuda (non-metric) · ga each-chumhacht (metric) · cy marchnerth (non-metric) · ka ცხენის ძალა (metric) · cv лаша вӑйӗ (non-metric)

wikidata: Q2276380