manpower

English

Etymology

From man +‎ power.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

manpower (uncountable)

1. The total number of all available workers; the workforce.
   • 1944 July and August, “Notes and News: Crystal Palace Line Closed”, in Railway Magazine, page 248:

     The closure is stated officially to be solely due to the manpower position.

   • 1959 May, “Talking of Trains: L.M. passenger plan coming”, in Trains Illustrated, page 233:

     Since manpower represents so high a proportion of railway costs, attention by management to the study of work procedures with a view to better utilisation of—"and indeed greater rewards for"—the manpower employed was of special importance, said Mr. Blee.

2. The power exerted by a single person (analogous to horsepower.)

   Canals dug entirely by manpower.

Derived terms

• manpowered

Translations

workforce — see labour force

power exerted by a single person

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: ihmisvoima, miesvoima
• Galician: man de obra (gl)
• Irish: ^{(please verify)} fearchumhacht f
• Italian: manodopera (it) f, forza lavoro (it) f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} main-d’œuvre (fr)

References

• “manpower”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.