NOTE 1 The term "power" is also used for an expression representing an exponentiation.

NOTE 2 In the power a^b, a is the base and b is the exponent. The power is expressed by the words "a to the power b" or simply "a to b".

NOTE 3 The power with exponent 2 is the square, $a^2=a\cdot a$, the power with exponent 3 is the cube, $a^3=a\cdot a\cdot a$, the power with exponent −1 is the inverse, $a^{-1}=1/a$, the power with exponent 1/2 is the square root, $a^{1/2}=\sqrt{a}$.