energy

en·er·gy    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (nr-j) n. pl. en·er·gies The capacity for work or vigorous activity; vigor; power. See Synonyms at strength.   Exertion of vigor or power: a project requiring a great deal of time and energy. Vitality and intensity of expression: a speech delivered with energy and emotion.   Usable heat or power: Each year Americans consume a high percentage of the world's energy. A source of usable power, such as petroleum or coal. Physics. The capacity of a physical system to do work. [French énergie, from Late Latin energa, from Greek energeia, from energos, active  : en-, in, at; see en-2 + ergon, work; see werg- in Indo-European Roots.]

energy

\En"er*gy\, n.; pl. Energies. [F. ['e]nergie, LL. energia, fr. Gr.?, fr. ? active; ? in + ? work. See In, and Work.] 1. Internal or inherent power; capacity of acting, operating, or producing an effect, whether exerted or not; as, men possessing energies may suffer them to lie inactive.

The great energies of nature are known to us only by their effects. --Paley.

2. Power efficiently and forcibly exerted; vigorous or effectual operation; as, the energy of a magistrate.

3. Strength of expression; force of utterance; power to impress the mind and arouse the feelings; life; spirit; -- said of speech, language, words, style; as, a style full of energy.

4. (Physics) Capacity for performing work.

Note: The kinetic energy of a body is the energy it has in virtue of being in motion. It is measured by one half of the product of the mass of each element of the body multiplied by the square of the velocity of the element, relative to some given body or point. The available kinetic energy of a material system unconnected with any other system is that energy which is due to the motions of the parts of the system relative to its center of mass. The potential energy of a body or system is that energy which is not kinetic; -- energy due to configuration. Kinetic energy is sometimes called actual energy. Kinetic energy is exemplified in the vis viva of moving bodies, in heat, electric currents, etc.; potential energy, in a bent spring, or a body suspended a given distance above the earth and acted on by gravity.

energy

n 1: (physics) the capacity of a physical system to do work; the units of energy are joules or ergs; "energy can take a wide variety of forms" 2: an exertion of force; "he plays tennis with great energy" [syn: vigor, vigour] 3: enterprising or ambitious drive; "Europeans often laugh at American energy" [syn: push, get-up-and-go] 4: an imaginative lively style (especially style of writing); "his writing conveys great energy" [syn: vigor, vigour, vim] 5: a healthy capacity for vigorous activity; "jogging works off my excess energy"; "he seemed full of vim and vigor" [syn: vim, vitality] 6: the federal department responsible for maintaining a national energy policy; created in 1977 [syn: Department of Energy, Energy Department, Energy]