empower

em·pow·er  (m-pour)

tr.v. em·pow·ered, em·pow·er·ing, em·pow·ers

1. To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority. See Synonyms at authorize.

2. To equip or supply with an ability; enable: "Computers ... empower students to become intellectual explorers" (Edward B. Fiske).

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em·power·ment n.

Usage Note: Although it is a contemporary buzzword, the word empower is not new, having arisen in the mid-17th century with the legalistic meaning "to invest with authority, authorize." Shortly thereafter it began to be used with an infinitive in a more general way meaning "to enable or permit." Both of these uses survive today but have been overpowered by the word's use in politics and pop psychology. Its modern use originated in the civil rights movement, which sought political empowerment for its followers. The word was then taken up by the women's movement, and its appeal has not flagged. Since people of all political persuasions have a need for a word that makes their constituents feel that they are or are about to become more in control of their destinies, empower has been adopted by conservatives as well as social reformers. It has even migrated out of the political arena into other fields. · The Usage Panel has some misgivings about this recent broadening of usage. For the Panelists, the acceptability of the verb empower depends on the context. Eighty percent approve of the example We want to empower ordinary citizens. But in contexts that are not political the Panel is markedly less enthusiastic. The sentence Hunger and greed and then sexual zeal are felt by some to be stages of experience that empower the individual garners approval from only 33 percent of the Panelists. The Panel may frown on this kind of psychological empowering because it resonates of the self-help movement, which is notorious for trendy coinages.

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empower [ɪmˈpaʊə]

vb (tr)

1. to give or delegate power or authority to; authorize

2. to give ability to; enable or permit

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	empower - give or delegate power or authority to; "She authorized her assistant to sign the papers" authorise, authorize entitle - give the right to; "The Freedom of Information Act entitles you to request your FBI file" appoint, charge - assign a duty, responsibility or obligation to; "He was appointed deputy manager"; "She was charged with supervising the creation of a concordance" sanction - give authority or permission to
	2.	empower - give qualities or abilities to endow, endue, gift, indue, invest enable - render capable or able for some task; "This skill will enable you to find a job on Wall Street"; "The rope enables you to secure yourself when you climb the mountain" cover - invest with a large or excessive amount of something; "She covered herself with glory"

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empower

verb

1. authorize, allow, commission, qualify, permit, sanction, entitle, delegate, license, warrant, give power to, give authority to, invest with power The army is now empowered to operate on a shoot-to-kill basis.

2. enable, equip, emancipate, give means to, enfranchise empowering the underprivileged by means of education

Translations

empower [ɪmˈpaʊəʳ] VT

1. (= authorize) to empower sb to do sth → autorizar a algn para hacer algo

2. [+ women, workers, minorities] → atribuir poderes a

empower [ɪmˈpaʊə^r] vt

(= make stronger, more independent) [+ person, group, minority] → responsabiliser

(= authorize) to empower sb to do sth → habiliter qn à faire qch

empower

vt

to empower somebody to do something → jdn ermächtigen, etw zu tun; (Jur) → jdm (die) Vollmacht erteilen, etw zu tun; to be empowered to do something → ermächtigt or befugt sein, etw zu tun; (Jur) → die Vollmacht haben, etw zu tun

(= make powerful) women, minorities etc → stärken

empower [ɪmˈpaʊəʳ] vt to empower sb to do sth → concedere l'autorità a qn di fare qc

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empower [ɪmˈpaʊəʳ] vt to empower sb to do sth → concedere l'autorità a qn di fare qc