Chinese word

马力

Pronunciation

Pinyinmǎ lì

Meaning

  • nounhorsepower

Example

这辆车有200马力。zhè liàng chē yǒu 200 mǎ lì

This car has 200 horsepower.

Illustration for 马力 (horsepower)

More examples

虽然车子很轻，但马力不足时加速仍然很慢。suī rán chē zi hěn qīng dàn mǎ lì bù zú shí jiā sù réng rán hěn màn

Although the car is light, acceleration is still slow when it lacks horsepower.

Core concept

A unit for comparing the power produced by an engine or other machine with a traditional horse-based standard.

Common phrases

  • 提高马力tí gāo mǎ lì

    increase horsepower

  • 马力不足mǎ lì bù zú

    lack horsepower

  • 马力强劲mǎ lì qiáng jìng

    high horsepower

Similar words

功率gōng lǜ: The rate at which a machine or engine does work, measured in watts.
动力dòng lì: The force or energy source that makes something move.

Definition in Chinese

用来表示发动机或其他机械输出功率的说法，常以“X马力”这样的数值形式出现在车辆参数和设备说明中。yòng lái biǎo shì fā dòng jī huò qí tā jī xiè shū chū gōng lǜ de shuō fǎ cháng yǐ X mǎ lì zhè yàng de shù zhí xíng shì chū xiàn zài chē liàng cān shù hé shè bèi shuō míng zhōng

Word origin

马力 (mǎlì, "horsepower") was formed as a translation of English horsepower, combining 马 (mǎ, "horse") and 力 (lì, "power") to name a machine's power through a familiar animal benchmark.

Usage tips

  • In vehicle talk, the number describes engine power, while acceleration also depends on factors such as weight and gearing.

Word lists with this word