strength

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Pronunciation

• (RP, GA) IPA: /stɹɛŋkθ/, [st̠͡ɹ̠ɛŋkθ], [st̠͡ɹ̠ɛn̪θ]
  • (pin-pen) IPA: [st̠͡ɹ̠ɪŋkθ]

Noun

strength

1. The quality or degree of being strong.

   It requires great strength to lift heavy objects.

   • circa 1605 William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene 5,

     Our castle’s strength will laugh a siege to scorn.

   Antonyms: weakness
2. The intensity of a force or power; potency.

   He had the strength of ten men.

   • 1699, Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet, Heads designed for an essay on conversations ↗

     Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

3. The strongest part of something; that on which confidence or reliance is based.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Psalms 46.1,

     God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

   • 1649, Jeremy Taylor, The Great Examplar of Sanctity and Holy Life according to the Christian Institution, London: Francis Ash, Part 1, Section 4, Discourse 2, p. 66,

     […] certainly there is not in the world a greater strength against temptations, then is deposited in an obedient understanding […] .

4. A positive attribute.

   We all have our own strengths and weaknesses.

   Antonyms: weakness

5. (obsolete) An armed force, a body of troops.
   • circa 1591 William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act IV, Scene 3,

     Thou princely leader of our English strength,

     Never so needful on the earth of France,

   • circa 1596 William Shakespeare, King John (play), Act II, Scene 1,

     That done, dissever your united strengths,

     And part your mingled colours once again;

6. (obsolete) A strong place; a stronghold.
   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 7, lines 140-143,^{[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Paradise_Lost_(1674)/Book_VII]}

     All like himself rebellious, by whose aid

     This inaccessible high strength, the seat

     Of Deitie supream, us dispossest,

     He trusted to have seis’d […]

Synonyms

Related terms

Translations

• French: force, vigueur, effectif
• German: Stärke, Kraft, Festigkeit, Mumm
• Italian: forza, vigore, energia
• Portuguese: força, vigor
• Russian: си́ла
• Spanish: fuerza, ñeque

Translations

• French: force
• German: Kraft, Stärke
• Italian: intensità, efficacia
• Portuguese: força
• Spanish: potencia, intensidad

Translations

• German: Stärke
• Italian: forza
• Portuguese: força
• Spanish: fuerte

Translations

• French: point fort
• German: Stärke, Festigkeit
• Italian: forza, solidità, tenacia
• Portuguese: forte
• Spanish: fortaleza, solidez

Verb

strength (strengths, present participle strengthing; past and past participle strengthed)

1. (obsolete) To give strength to; to strengthen. [12th-17th c.] attention enattention enm
   • 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible, Job IV:

     Lo! thou hast tauȝt ful many men, and thou hast strengthid hondis maad feynt.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:strengthen

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