English Explanatory Dictionary

horsepower

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Power derived from the motion of a horse.
  2. A nonmetric unit of power with various definitions, commonly the mechanical horsepower, approximately equal to 745.7 watts.
  3. Metric horsepower, a metric unit approximately equal to 735.5 watts.
  4. Strength, performance capability, specs, or similar.

Pronunciation

hôrsʹpou'ər /ˈhɔɹsˌpaʊɚ/ hôsʹpou'ə /ˈhɔːsˌpaʊə/ en-us-horsepower.ogg

Word forms

horsepower horsepowers

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).

Synonyms

hp PS

Derived words

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

Translations

Belarusian: ко́нская сі́ла Bulgarian: ко́нска си́ла Chinese Mandarin: 馬力 /马力 Chuvash: лаша вӑйӗ Czech: koňská síla Danish: hestekraft Dutch: (mechanische) paardenkracht Esperanto: ĉevalpovo Estonian: hobujõud Faroese: hestakraft Finnish: hevosvoima Georgian: ცხენის ძალა German: Pferdestärke Hungarian: (gépi) lóerő Indonesian: tenaga kuda Indonesian: daya kuda Irish: each-chumhacht Italian: cavallo vapore Japanese: 馬力 Khmer: ហយពល Khmer: អស្វឫទ្ធិ Korean: 마력 Latvian: zirgspēks Lithuanian: arklio galia Macedonian: коњска сила Malay: kuasa kuda Malayalam: കുതിരശക്തി Norwegian Bokmål: hestekraft Norwegian Nynorsk: hestekraft Plautdietsch: Pieetskrauft Polish: koń parowy Portuguese: cavalo-vapor Romanian: cal-putere Russian: лошади́ная си́ла Serbo-Croatian: коњска снага Serbo-Croatian: konjska snaga Slovak: konská sila Slovene: konjska moč Spanish: caballo de vapor Spanish: caballo de fuerza Spanish: caballo de potencia Swedish: hästkraft Tagalog: kabalyo Thai: แรงม้า Ukrainian: кі́нська си́ла
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