Coercion

How to spell coercion

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce coercion

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does coercion mean?

1. nounThe practice of forcing someone to do something through threats, pressure, or intimidation.

Coercion in a sentence

• The contract was signed under coercion and later declared invalid.

• The witness claimed her statement was the result of coercion by the police.

Where does coercion come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb coercere, which meant 'to restrain' or 'to keep in check'. It was built from the prefix co- 'together' joined to arcere, a verb meaning 'to shut in' or 'to fence off', so the literal idea was of hemming something in on all sides. From coercere the Romans formed the noun coercio, describing the act of restraint or compulsion, and that noun passed through Old French into English in the fifteenth century. Over time the legal and political sense sharpened from mere 'restraint' to the modern meaning of forcing a person to act against their will. The same arcere root quietly survives in the rare English word 'coerce' and is a distant cousin of 'exercise'; note that the spelling keeps the soft c before e (giving a 'sh' or 'zh' sound), which is exactly the spot writers stumble over.

How the word is built

• co- (together)
• erc (from Latin arcere: to enclose, restrain)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)