What does Empowerment mean?

  I have always been fascinated by words and their origins. In fact, one of the highlights from my youth was spending time with my father, reading a dictionary and looking up word derivations.

This morning, I started in with the word “Empowerment”; after all, it is in the name of my business. I won’t go into the etymology here but it’s interesting that it began as a political term. Today it is widely used; and like most great thoughts or ideas – overused.

  To break down the literal meaning of the word, it would be this way:  “em” as a prefix means to put into or onto, and “ment” as a suffix designates an act of. Empowerment, in its raw form would mean putting an act of power on or into something or someone.

For now, contemplate the word “Empowerment” and what it means to you. Consider all aspects of it; the one doing the empowering and the one receiving the empowerment. Who benefits? Is it the one receiving the power, or is it possible both are benefiting.  I will share my thoughts on the definition of empowerment and will enjoy hearing your feedback.