To the power of

How it is used

The full, formal reading of a power. In fast speech people shorten it: 'two to the fifth', 'ten to the minus three' (10⁻³) or 'x to the n' (xⁿ). For powers 2 and 3, 'squared' and 'cubed' are normally used instead.

Example sentences

1. Ten to the power of six is one million.

2. Any non-zero number to the power of zero equals one.

Common collocations

• raise to the power of
• two to the power of five
• x to the n
• ten to the minus three

Related terms

• exponentThe small raised number that shows how many times a base is multiplied by itself; in 2⁵, the exponent is 5 and the base is 2.
• squaredMultiplied by itself; used to read a power of 2 aloud, so x² is 'x squared' and 5² = 25 is 'five squared is twenty-five'.
• cubedMultiplied by itself three times; used to read a power of 3 aloud, so x³ is 'x cubed' and 2³ = 8 is 'two cubed is eight'.
• square rootA number that gives a particular value when it is multiplied by itself; the square root of 49 is 7, because 7 × 7 = 49.

More terms: Reading Maths Aloud

• equals
• divided by
• decimal point
• parentheses
• f of x