# strength
## English
### Etymology

From Middle English strengthe, from Old English strengþu (“strength”), from Proto-West Germanic *strangiþu (“strongness; strength”), equivalent to strong +‎ -th. Cognate with Dutch strengte (“strength”), German Low German Strengde, Strengte (“harshness; rigidity; strictness; severity”).

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /stɹɛŋ(k)θ/
* (General American) IPA: [st̠͡ɹ̠ɛŋkθ], [st̠͡ɹ̠ɛn̪θ], [s̠t͡ʃɹ̥ɛn̪θ]
** (pin–pen merger) IPA: [st̠͡ɹ̠ɪŋkθ]
** (pre-/ŋ/ tensing) IPA: [st̠͡ɹ̠ɛɪŋkθ], [st̠͡ɹ̠eɪŋkθ]
*** Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛŋθ, -ɛnθ

### Noun

strength (countable and uncountable, plural strengths)
* The quality or degree of being strong.
    Antonym: weakness
    It requires great strength to lift heavy objects.
** c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:Our castle’s strength will laugh a siege to scorn.
** 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:He was thinking; but the glory of the song, the swell from the great organ, the clustered lights, […] , the height and vastness of this noble fane, its antiquity and its strength—all these things seemed to have their part as causes of the thrilling emotion that accompanied his thoughts.
* The intensity of a force or power; potency.
    He had the strength of ten men.
** 1699, William Temple, 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.
* The strongest part of something; that on which confidence or reliance is based.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 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 […] .
* A positive attribute.
    Antonym: weakness
    to play to one's strengths
    We all have our own strengths and weaknesses.
** 2013, Deborah Hay, My Body, The Buddhist, →ISBN, page 78:The compulsion to expose, renegotiate, or reinvent the strengths and weaknesses of dance tradition offers little in its final outcome to attract the average dance-goer.
* (obsolete) An armed force, a body of troops.
** 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:Thou princely leader of our English strength, Never so needful on the earth of France,
** c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:That done, dissever your united strengths, And part your mingled colours once again;
* (obsolete) A strong place; a stronghold.
** 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 140-143:All like himself rebellious, by whose aid This inaccessible high strength, the seat Of Deitie supream, us dispossest, He trusted to have seis’d […]
* (graph theory) The minimum ratio of the number of edges removed from a given graph to components created, over all possible removals.

#### Synonyms

* ability
* asset
* capability
* expertise
* forte, fortitude
* main
* potency
* power

#### Derived terms

* bench strength
* bond strength
* brute strength
* compressive strength
* crushing strength
* dielectic strength
* dielectric strength
* fatigue strength
* feat of strength
* field strength
* fore-strength
* full-strength
* gather strength
* give me strength
* go from strength to strength
* impact strength
* industrial-strength
* industrial strength
* inner strength
* ionic strength
* measure strength
* on the strength of
* party strength
* peace through strength
* peel strength
* pillar of strength
* position of strength
* relative strength
* retard strength
* shear strength
* show of strength
* signal strength
* strengthen
* strengthening
* strengthful
* strengthless
* strength of will
* strength tester
* strength training
* strengthy
* strike off strength
* superstrength
* take on strength
* tensile strength
* there is strength in numbers
* tower of strength
* ultimate strength
* ultimate tensile strength
* understrength
* union is strength
* union makes strength
* unity is strength
* unity makes strength
* upon the strength of
* wet strength
* wind strength
* yield strength

#### Related terms

* strengthen
* strong
* strongly

#### Translations

Arabic: قُوَّة (ar) f (quwwa)
Egyptian Arabic: قوة f (ʔuwwa)
Hijazi Arabic: قُوَّة f (guwwa)
Armenian: ուժ (hy) (už)
Azerbaijani: güc (az), quvvə, qüvvət (az)
Bashkir: көс (kös)
Basque: indar
Belarusian: сі́ла f (síla), моц f (moc)
Bengali: বল (bn) (bol), জোর (bn) (zor)
Bhojpuri: जोर (jōr)
Bulgarian: си́ла (bg) f (síla), мощ (bg) f (mošt)
Catalan: força (ca) f
Chinese:
Cantonese: 力量 (lik$^6$ loeng$^6$)
Mandarin: 力氣 / 力气 (zh) (lìqi)
Czech: síla (cs) f, moc (cs) f
Dutch: kracht (nl) f, sterkte (nl) f
Dzongkha: སྟོབས (stobs)
Egyptian: (pḥtj)
Esperanto: forteco
Estonian: tugevus, jõud
Ewe: ŋusẽ
Faroese: styrki f
Finnish: voimakkuus (fi), voima (fi), vahvuus (fi)
French: force (fr) f, vigueur (fr) f, effectif (fr) m
Galician: forza (gl) f
Georgian: სიძლიერე (siʒliere), ძალა (ʒala), სიმტკიცე (simṭḳice)
German: Stärke (de) f, Kraft (de) f, Festigkeit (de) f, Mumm (de) m
Gothic: 𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌴𐌹 f (swinþei)
Greek: δύναμη (el) f (dýnami)
Ancient: ἰσχύς f (iskhús), σθένος n (sthénos)
Haitian Creole: fòs
Haryanvi: हंघा (haṅghā)
Hebrew: חוזק m (khózek)
Hindi: शक्ति (hi) f (śakti), ताक़त m (tāqat), बल (hi) m (bal)
Hungarian: erő (hu)
Ido: forteso (io)
Ingrian: voima, voimakkuus
Interlingua: fortia
Irish: urrúntacht f, láidreacht f
Irula: பல (bala)
Italian: forza (it) f, vigore (it) m, energia (it) f
Japanese: 力 (ja) (ちから, chikara)
Kazakh: күш (kk) (küş), дәрмен (därmen)
Khakas: кӱс (küs)
Khmer: កម្លាំង (km) (gomlung)
Korean: 힘 (ko) (him)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ھێز (ckb) (hêz)
Kyrgyz: күч (ky) (küc)
Lao: please add this translation if you can
Latgalian: vare, spāks
Latin: firmitudo f, firmitas f, robur (la) n, fortitudo (la)
Latvian: spēks (lv) m, stiprums m, spēcīgums m
Lithuanian: jėga f
Macedonian: сила f (sila), моќ f (moḱ)
Malagasy: hery (mg)
Malay: kekuatan (ms)
Malayalam: ശക്തി (ml) (śakti)
Manchu: ᡥᡡᠰᡠᠨ (hūsun)
Maori: whirikoka
Mirandese: fuorça f
Miyako: たや (taya)
Mòcheno: kròft f
Mongolian: хүч (mn) (xüč)
Navajo: adziil
Nepali: बल (bal), तागत (tāgat)
Nuosu: ꊋ (we)
Old French: esfort m
Old Javanese: bala
Old Turkic: 𐰚𐰇𐰲 (küč)
Old Uyghur: 𐽷𐽳𐽶𐽽 (küč)
Orok: кусу (kusu)
Oromo: jabina
Ossetian: тых (tyx)
Ottoman Turkish: گوج (güç), قوت (kuvvet), مكنت (miknet), درمان (derman), طاقت (takat)
Persian: زور (fa) (zowr), قوت (fa) (qovvat)
Polish: siła (pl) f, moc (pl) f
Portuguese: força (pt) f, vigor (pt) m
Quechua: kallpa
Romanian: putere (ro) f, forță (ro) f
Russian: си́ла (ru) f (síla), мощь (ru) f (moščʹ)
Sanskrit: शक्ति (sa) f (śakti), बल (sa) n (bala)
Scottish Gaelic: lùths m, neart m, brìgh f
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: снага f, моћ f, сила f, јачина f
Roman: snaga (sh) f, moć f, sila (sh) f, jačina (sh) f
Shan: ပလႃႉ (pǎ lâ̰a)
Shor: кӱш
Slovak: sila f, moc f
Slovene: moč (sl) f, sila (sl) f
Somali: quwad, xoog
Southern Altai: кӱч (küč)
Spanish: fuerza (es) f, ñeque (es) m
Swahili: nguvu (sw)
Swedish: styrka (sv)
Tagalog: lakas (tl)
Tajik: қувват (quvvat), зӯр (tg) (zür)
Tamil: பலம் (ta) (palam), கிற்பு (kiṟpu), ஷக்தி (ṣakti)
Tatar: көч (tt) (köç)
Telugu: బలము (te) (balamu)
Thai: แรง (th) (rɛɛng), กำลัง (th) (gam-lang), ความแข็งแรง (th)
Tibetan: སྟོབས (stobs)
Tocharian B: maiyyo, warkṣäl
Turkish: kuvvet (tr), güç (tr)
Turkmen: güýç
Tuvan: күш (küş)
Ugaritic: 𐎓𐎇 (ʿz)
Ukrainian: си́ла (uk) f (sýla), міць (uk) f (micʹ)
Urdu: شکتی f (śakti), زور (ur) m (zor), قوت (quvvat)
Uyghur: كۈچ (küch)
Uzbek: kuch (uz), quvvat (uz)
Vietnamese: sức mạnh (vi)
Vilamovian: kroft
Walloon: foice (wa) f
West Frisian: animo (fy)
Xhosa: amandla class 6
Yakut: күүс (küüs)
Yiddish: שטאַרקײַט f (shtarkayt), כּוח m (koyekh)
Zhuang: please add this translation if you can
Zulu: amandla (zu) class 6 :

### Verb

strength (third-person singular simple present strengths, present participle strengthing, simple past and past participle strengthed)
* (obsolete) To strengthen (all senses). [12th–17th c.]
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:strengthen
** 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Colossians j:[11], folio cclviiii, verso:ſtrengthed with all myght / thꝛowe hys gloꝛious power / vnto all pacience / and longe ſufferynge with ioyfulnes
** 1529, John Frith, A piſtle to the Chriſten reader […] ‎:Then ſhalt thow perceave what it meaneth that the power of this wretched monſtre / muſt be ſtrengthed / by anothers power and not by his awne.
** 1550, Edward Halle, “King Henry the viij.”, in The Vnion of the Two Noble and Illuſtre Famelies of Lancaſtre and Yoꝛke‎, page 1271:In witnes wherof we haue cauſed this pꝛeſent wꝛiting to be ſtrengthed with the ſeal of our facultie […]