Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “empowered” come from?

Empowered derives from English empower, from Old English power with the prefix Old French en-, ultimately from Latin in- and Latin in, tracing back through Proto-Indo-European ne.

empowered (English): Having been given the power to make choices...

Definitions

  1. Having been given the power to make choices...

Ancestry of “empowered”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishempowerTo give permission, power, or the legal right to...
2EnglishPowerA button of a computer, a video game console, or...
3Middle Englishpower—
4Anglo-Normanpoer—
5Latinpotēre—
6Latinpossepresent active infinitive of possum  "to be able...
7Latinpotisable, capable, possible
8Proto-Italicpotis—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanpótismaster, ruler; husband
10Proto-Indo-Europeanph₃tis—
11Proto-Indo-Europeanpeh₃-to drink

Words derived from “empowered”

  • unempowered
  • superempowered
Every word from Proto-Indo-European peh₃- →