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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

compel en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *pel- Proto-Indo-European *pelh₂-der. Proto-Indo-European *-né-der. Proto-Italic *pelnōder. Latin pellō Latin compellerebor. Middle French compellirbor. Middle English compellen English compel From Middle English compellen, borrowed from Middle French compellir, from Latin compellere, itself from com- (“together”) + pellere (“to drive”). Displaced native Old English nīedan.

Meanings

  1. (archaic, literally, transitive) To drive together, round up.
    • The shepherds compelled the stray sheep into the fold as night began to fall.
  2. (transitive) To overpower; to subdue.
    • She had one of those perfect faces, which irresistibly compel the soul of a man. 1917, Upton Sinclair, chapter 16, in King Coal:
  3. (transitive) To force, constrain, or coerce.
    • Against my will, / As Pompey was, am I compell’d to set / Upon one battle all our liberties. 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:
    • Sellafield compels this kind of gaze into the abyss of deep time because it is a place where multiple time spans – some fleeting, some cosmic – drift in and out of view. December 15, 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian:
    • Congratulations, your courage compels respect.
    • To me it seems that extensive investment in relatively low-powered units may have the same ultimate result of motive power shortage as that which afflicts the London Midland Region today, and which has compelled the re-engining of some of the earlier multiple-unit diesel train sets. 1958 June 14, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 412:
    • Wolsey […] compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once. 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George II. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], →OCLC:
    • Logic compels the wise, while fools feel compelled by emotions.
  4. (transitive) To forcefully or powerfully motivate (a course of action).
    • As the novel progresses, it picks up a propulsive energy, the kind that compels you to keep reading straight through to the end. November 1, 2022, J. Courtney Sullivan, “In Northern Ireland During the Troubles, a Secret Romance”, in The New York Times:
  5. (transitive) To have a strong, irresistible force (on someone or something).
  6. (transitive) To exact, extort, (make) produce by force.
    • Commissions, which compel from each / The sixth part of his substance. 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
    • The Queen has nothing but the power to execute the laws, to adjust grievances and to compel order. 1912, L. Frank Baum, chapter 14, in Sky Island:
  7. (obsolete) To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
    • And I will fetch you forage from all fields, / For I compel all creatures to my will. 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 79:
    • Easy sleep their weary limbs compell'd. 1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
  8. (obsolete) To gather or unite in a crowd or company.
    • in one troop compell'd 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
  9. (obsolete) To call forth; to summon.
    • the pow'rs that I compel / Shall throw thee hence, and make thy head run ope the gates of hel [1611?], Homer, “Book V”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume I, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC:
    • She had this knight from far compeld. 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 5:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
compelling Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
compels Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
compelled Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
compelled Tense=Past lexicographic

Deriveds

compellation · compel testimony · compeller · compelling · compellence · recompel · compellable · compelled

Relateds

compulsion

Synonyms

necessitate

Translations (114)

gl obrigar (force, constrain or coerce) · de zwingen (exact by force) · fi alistaa (overpower) · nl samendrijven (drive together, round up) · hi विवश करना (force, constrain or coerce) · sh prìsiliti (force, constrain or coerce) · ang nīedan (force, constrain or coerce) · nb avtvinge (force, constrain or coerce) · la compellō (force, constrain or coerce) · nb tvinge (exact by force) · ru обя́зывать (exact by force) · ru вынужда́ть (exact by force) · ru обяза́ть (exact by force) · ru подчиня́ть (overpower) · uk зму́шувати (force, constrain or coerce) · hy ստիպել (force, constrain or coerce) · be зму́сіць (force, constrain or coerce) · sh sȉliti (force, constrain or coerce) · ru прину́дить (force, constrain or coerce) · fi johdattaa (exact by force) · mk присилува (force, constrain or coerce) · la compellō (drive together, round up) · sv tvinga (force, constrain or coerce) · ru собира́ть (drive together, round up) · nb avtvinge (exact by force) · el αναγκάζω (force, constrain or coerce) · it costringere (force, constrain or coerce) · hi विवश करना (exact by force) · fr forcer (force, constrain or coerce) · non nauðga (force, constrain or coerce) · da nødsage (force, constrain or coerce) · fi ajaa (force, constrain or coerce) · be прымуша́ць (force, constrain or coerce) · cs přinutit (exact by force) · nl dwingen (force, constrain or coerce) · fr obliger (exact by force) · eo devigi (force, constrain or coerce) · fi ajaa kokoon (drive together, round up) · mk принудува (force, constrain or coerce) · fi johtaa (exact by force) · cs podrobit (overpower) · ja 強いる (force, constrain or coerce) · sk prinútiť (force, constrain or coerce) · de zwingen (force, constrain or coerce) · mi ā (force, constrain or coerce) · cs nutit (force, constrain or coerce) · bg заста́вя (force, constrain or coerce) · bg принужда́вам (exact by force) · hy ենթարկել (overpower) · cs podrobovat (overpower) · el υποχρεώνω (force, constrain or coerce) · cs vynucovat (exact by force) · hy պարտադրել (exact by force) · fr contraindre (force, constrain or coerce) · uk приму́сити (force, constrain or coerce) · pl zmusić (force, constrain or coerce) · nl bedwingen (overpower) · mn албадах (force, constrain or coerce) · cs přinucovat (exact by force) · sh прѝсилити (force, constrain or coerce) · es compeler (force, constrain or coerce) · sk nútiť (force, constrain or coerce) · bg наси́лвам (exact by force) · ko 강요하다 (force, constrain or coerce) · no tvinge (force, constrain or coerce) · ru вы́нудить (exact by force) · bg прину́дя (force, constrain or coerce) · sk donútiť (force, constrain or coerce) · de nötigen (force, constrain or coerce) · grc ἀναγκάζω (force, constrain or coerce) · be прыму́сіць (force, constrain or coerce) · it forzare (force, constrain or coerce) · nl afdwingen (exact by force) · pt obrigar (force, constrain or coerce) · az məcbur etmək (force, constrain or coerce) · fi pakottaa (force, constrain or coerce) · pl zmuszać (force, constrain or coerce) · de unterwerfen (overpower) · bg принужда́вам (force, constrain or coerce) · uk приму́шувати (force, constrain or coerce) · got 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌵𐌹𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (force, constrain or coerce) · nl bijeendrijven (drive together, round up) · cs vynutit (exact by force) · it obbligare (force, constrain or coerce) · ru принужда́ть (force, constrain or coerce) · cmn 強迫 /强迫 (force, constrain or coerce) · mi uruhi (force, constrain or coerce) · ca forçar (force, constrain or coerce) · ca obligar (force, constrain or coerce) · sl prisiliti (force, constrain or coerce) · da tvinge (force, constrain or coerce) · ar اِضْطَرَّ (force, constrain or coerce) · bg подчиня́вам (overpower) · bg съби́рам (drive together, round up) · gl domear (overpower) · ar أَجْبَرَ (force, constrain or coerce) · gl apremar (force, constrain or coerce) · cs donutit (force, constrain or coerce) · got 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (force, constrain or coerce) · uk зму́сити (force, constrain or coerce) · hy հարկադրել (force, constrain or coerce) · ar أَكْرَهَ (force, constrain or coerce) · ru заставля́ть (force, constrain or coerce) · sh си̏лити (force, constrain or coerce) · pt forçar (force, constrain or coerce) · de bezwingen (overpower) · fi koota (drive together, round up) · ru заста́вить (force, constrain or coerce) · mi uruhi (exact by force) · nb nødsage (force, constrain or coerce) · gl domear (force, constrain or coerce) · be змуша́ць (force, constrain or coerce) · bg заста́вям (force, constrain or coerce) · cs přinutit (force, constrain or coerce)