power of attorney

English

Etymology

From attorney (“any personal representative”). Attorney now rarely has that sense outside of fixed expressions like this one.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpaʊə(r) əv əˈtɜː(r)niː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

power of attorney (countable and uncountable, plural powers of attorney)

1. (uncountable, law) The legal authorisation of one person to act as the agent of another.

   He confirmed that he had power of attorney.

2. (countable, law) A legal document allowing one person to act as the agent of another.

   Here you can apply for a power of attorney.

Usage notes

• A power of attorney is a document, not a person. Thus, if X signs a power of attorney in favour of Y, Y might properly say:
  • I am X's attorney or
  • I hold power of attorney for X, but not
  • I am power of attorney for X.
• However, this inaccurate use is widespread, even in business and commercial usage.

Translations

authorisation

• Breton: galloudegadur m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 代理權／代理权 (zh) (dàilǐquán)

• Czech: plná moc (cs) f
• Dutch: volmacht (nl) f
• Finnish: valtuutus (fi)
• French: procuration (fr) f
• German: Vollmacht (de) f
• Greek: πληρεξούσιο (el) n (plirexoúsio)
• Hungarian: (ügyvédi/jogi) meghatalmazás/megbízás
• Italian: procura (it) f
• Korean: 대리권(代理權) (daerigwon)
• Norman: protchulâtion f (Jersey)
• Persian: وکالت (fa) (vekâlat)
• Polish: pełnomocnictwo (pl) n, upoważnienie (pl) n
• Serbo-Croatian: punomoćje n
• Spanish: poder (es) m
• Swedish: fullmakt (sv) c
• Telugu: వకాలతు (vakālatu)
• Welsh: atwrneiaeth f

document

• Armenian: լիազորագիր (hy) (liazoragir)
• Azerbaijani: etibarnamə, vəkalətnamə
• Breton: skrid galloudegañ m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 委託書／委托书 (zh) (wěituōshū)

• Czech: plná moc (cs) f
• Dutch: volmachtbrief m
• Finnish: valtakirja (fi)
• French: procuration (fr) f
• German: Vollmachtsurkunde f
• Greek: έγγραφο πληρεξουσιότητας n (éngrafo plirexousiótitas)
• Hindi: वकालतनामा (hi) m (vakālatnāmā)
• Hungarian: (ügyvédi/jogi) meghatalmazás/megbízás/megbízólevél
• Indonesian: surat kuasa
• Italian: atto di procura m
• Japanese: 委任状 (ininjō)
• Korean: 위임장(委任狀) (ko) (wiimjang)
• Persian: وکالت (fa) (vekâlat)
• Polish: pełnomocnictwo (pl) n
• Russian: дове́ренность (ru) (dovérennostʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: punomoć f
• Swedish: fullmakt (sv) c
• Welsh: pŵer atwrnai m

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

• Irish: ^{(please verify)} cumhacht aturnae f
• Norman: ^{(please verify)} protchulâtion f, ^{(please verify)} protchule f

See also

• attorney-in-fact