[hawrs-pou-er] 
| 1. | a foot-pound-second unit of power, equivalent to 550 foot-pounds per second, or 745.7 watts. |
| 2. | Informal. the capacity to achieve or produce; strength or talent: The university's history faculty is noted for its intellectual horsepower. |
| horse·pow·er (hôrs'pou'ər) n. pl. horse·power
|
A unit of power equal to about 746 watts.
Note: The horsepower is used to measure the power of engines.
Note: This term was coined by James Watt, who invented a new type of steam engine in the eighteenth century. Watt found that the horse could do a certain amount of work per second; when he sold his steam engines, this measurement allowed him to estimate the worth of an engine in terms of the number of horses it would replace. Therefore, a six-horsepower engine was capable of replacing six horses.
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