Forces

How to spell forces

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce forces

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does forces mean?

1. nounPowers or influences acting on something, or organised military or police bodies.
2. verbCompels or pushes someone or something to do or move, said of a single subject in the present tense.

Forces in a sentence

• noun

  The armed forces recruited heavily during the campaign.

• verb

  The strict deadline forces the team to work weekends.

• noun

  Engineers measured the forces acting on the bridge.

• verb

  A faulty valve forces the engine to overheat.

Where does forces come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective fortis, meaning 'strong' or 'powerful', from which arose the Vulgar Latin noun fortia, 'strength' or 'might'. That noun passed into Old French as force, carrying the sense of physical power and, by extension, an armed body of men. English adopted it in the 1300s, and over the centuries the meaning branched in several directions: bodily strength, compulsion against someone's will, and organised military or police bodies. The plural 'forces' became the standard term for armed services, while in physics it names the measurable pushes and pulls that act on objects. The same fortis root survives in the everyday words 'fort', 'effort', and 'comfort', all sharing that core idea of strength.

How the word is built

• force (from Latin fortis: strong)
• -s (plural noun / third-person singular verb ending)