energy
Pluralenergies
- 1The capacity to do work or be active: in people, physical and mental strength and vigor; in physics, a quantity that can be stored, transferred, or converted but not created or destroyed, measured in joules.
I don't have the energy to cook tonight after that long shift.
The machine converts stored energy into motion.
UsageOften have the energy to + verb, or be full of energy.
Similarstrength, vigor, vitality
Oppositelethargy, fatigue, weakness
Note
Here energy is something a person has and spends, close to vigor, vim, pep and vitality. It is often noticed by its absence: a manager left drained of the energy a rebuilding effort requires, or passengers hurrying about "with futile energy" in George A. Birmingham's Gossamer (1915). In everyday talk it carries no units; in physics, the same word names a quantity measured in joules.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts
- A manager was described as drained of the energy required for rebuilding. en.wiktionary.org
- George A. Birmingham wrote Gossamer. gutenberg.org
- Gossamer was first published in 1915. openlibrary.org
- The novel's narrator describes passengers hurrying with the exact words “with futile energy”. gutenberg.org
- Energy is measured in joules. nist.gov
- Energy is also a measured quantity in nutrition, where it is expressed in kilojoules, multiples of the joule. betterhealth.vic.gov.au
- 2The driving force behind all motion and all activity.
Philosophers once imagined a universal energy stirring every particle into motion.
He described love as the energy behind all human action.
Similarforce, power, drive, impetus
Note
Behind every meaning of the word stands Greek enérgeia, "activity," built from en, "in," and érgon, "work": the condition of being at work. It reached English through Late Latin energia and Middle French énergie. This broad meaning keeps that idea whole, a force behind motion of every kind. It belongs to a philosopher's picture of the universe rather than to a lab measurement.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
- English energy ultimately derives from Greek enérgeia, meaning activity. en.wikipedia.org
- The Greek word ultimately combines en, meaning in, and érgon, meaning work. en.wiktionary.org
- Being at work is an established interpretation of enérgeia. en.wikipedia.org
- English borrowed energy through Middle French énergie and Late Latin energia. en.wiktionary.org
- 3The mood, atmosphere, or feeling that seems to come from a person, place, or situation, often described as positive or negative; in some New Age beliefs, a force that flows between people and things.
After the argument, the negative energy lingered in the house for days.
Healers claim they can pass positive energy to a patient through their hands.
UsageThe plural is common here: negative energies, healing energies.
Similarvibe, atmosphere, aura, mood, feeling
Note
Healers and spiritual writers treat this energy as something with a charge, nearly always called positive or negative. It can be converted, cleared or drawn away. Anne Jones's Healing Negative Energies prescribes a salt bath, since salt "attracts negative energy", and the plural energies comes naturally here. Keep it apart from the physicist's measurable quantity; in casual talk it shades into a room's vibe.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Anne Jones wrote Healing Negative Energies. hachette.co.uk
- The book recommends a salt bath and says that salt attracts negative energy and draws it away. en.wiktionary.org
- 4Power in a usable form, for example electricity, gas or fuel, supplied to give heat and light or to run machines; also, the industry that provides it.
The government promised to help households cope with rising energy costs.
He spent twenty years working in energy before he moved into politics.
Similarpower
Note
Much of the time this meaning works as a modifier before another noun: energy bills, energy costs, an energy company. For the industry it needs no article, the way finance or oil does: he spent twenty years in energy. It is a practical cousin of the physicist's measured quantity; here the word means what reaches a home or a factory as electricity, gas or fuel.
Less common meanings
- 5In games, a resource that caps the number of actions a player or unit may take, often called magic points or mana in fantasy settings.
Her character ran out of energy before the boss fight ended.
Players regain energy by resting between battles.
Note
Game designers treat energy as a budget. A move, attack or spell may spend some, and resting or other mechanics refill it. The word runs across board games, role-playing games and video games, alongside the plainer synonym action points. Fantasy settings tend to dress the same resource up as mana or magic points, tying it to the casting of spells.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Games can give players a limited resource to spend on actions. gdp.cse.chalmers.se
- Costs and replenishment methods vary by game. In Magic: The Gathering, ordinary attacks require tapping creatures rather than spending mana; tapping lands generates mana. magic.wizards.com
- 6The outward actions and influences that flow from a thing's inner nature (ousia) and make it manifest, not the nature itself; the aspect by which it affects the world and is perceived by others.
Practice
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Origin
Ancient Greek en ("in") and érgon ("work") formed energós ("active"), which gave enérgeia ("activity"). The word passed through Late Latin energia and Middle French énergie into English. In 1802 the English polymath Thomas Young introduced the physics sense in his lectures on Natural Philosophy.