English
energy
Etymology

From Middle French énergie, from Late Latin energia, from Ancient Greek ἐνέργεια, from ἐνεργός ("active"), from ἐν ("in") + ἔργον ("work").

Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈɛn.ə.d͡ʒi/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈɛn.ɚ.d͡ʒi/
Noun

energy

  1. The impetus behind all motion and all activity.
  2. The capacity to do work.
    Synonyms: pep, vigor, vim, vitality
    • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC ↗:
      There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. […] Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors. Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place.
  3. (physics) A quantity that denotes the ability to do work and is measured in a unit dimensioned in mass × distance²/time² (ML²/T²) or the equivalent.
    Units:
    SI: joule (J), kilowatt-hour (kW·h)
    CGS: erg (erg)
    Customary: foot-pound-force, calorie, kilocalorie (i.e. dietary calories), BTU, liter-atmosphere, ton of TNT
  4. An intangible, modifiable force (usually characterized as either 'positive' or 'negative') believed in some New Age religions to emanate from a person, place or thing and which is (or can be) preserved and transferred in human interactions; shared mood or group habit.
    • 2004, Phylameana L. Desy, The Everything Reiki Book, Body, Mind & Spirit, [https://web.archive.org/web/20121107065413/http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Y96b_aWfWngC&printsec=frontcover&dq=positive+energy&hl=en&sa=X&ei=8Er9T4blHq2XiQeb-ZT6Bg&ved=0CGAQ6AEwBw#v=snippet&q=positive%20energy&f=false p.130]
      Reiki, much like prayer, is a personal exercise that can easily convert negative energy into positive energy.
  5. (Eastern Orthodoxy, theology, often, in the plural) The external actions and influences resulting from an entity’s internal nature (ousia) and by which it is made manifest, as opposed to that internal nature itself; the aspect of an entity that can affect the wider world and be apprehended by other beings.
    • 2003, Carl S. Tyneh, Orthodox Christianity: Overview and Bibliography, page 21:
      The three Persons of the Holy Trinity have the same opinion, make the same decision, and put forth the same energy and action.
    • 2017, Stoyan Tanev, Energy in Orthodox Theology and Physics: From Controversy to Encounter, quoting and translating the conclusions of the Fifth Council of Constantinople (1351), page 2:
      We hold, further, that there are two energies in our Lord Jesus Christ. For He possesses on the one hand, as God and being of like essence with the Father, the divine energy, and, likewise, since He became man and of like essence to us, the energy proper to human nature. […] Energy is the efficient and essential activity of nature; the capacity for energy is the nature from which proceeds energy; the product of energy is that which is effected by energy; and the agent of energy is the person or subsistence which uses the energy.
    • 2019, Paul Ladouceur, Modern Orthodox Theology: Behold, I Make All Things New, pages 368–369:
      The doctrine of the divine energies states that the divine essence, God-in-himself, is unknowable to any creature, whereas God makes himself known in creation by his divine energies, which are inseparable from the divine essence yet distinct from it. Humans know and experience God through his energies. […] Energies are indeed God, but God is more than his energies.
  6. (RPG, video games, board games) A measure of how many actions a player or unit can take; in the fantasy genre often called magic points or mana.
    Synonyms: action points
  7. (Internet slang) An atmosphere, aura, or vibe.
    big dick energy; divorced guy energy; main character energy
Translations Translations Translations

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