Propelled

How to spell propelled

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce propelled

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does propelled mean?

1. verbDrove or pushed something forward, often with a continuous force.

Propelled in a sentence

• The strong current propelled the small boat toward the rocks.

• A single rocket motor propelled the satellite into a higher orbit.

Where does propelled come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb propellere, which combined pro- meaning 'forward' with pellere meaning 'to drive, push, or strike'. In Latin the sense was literally 'to drive forward', the same forceful pushing that gives us related words like 'compel' (to drive together, hence to force) and 'expel' (to drive out). English adopted propel in the 1400s, at first in the literal sense of striking or driving something onward, and the mechanical meaning of pushing a vehicle or projectile became common with later engineering and ballistics. The past-tense form propelled stresses on the second syllable, and because that stressed final syllable ends in a single vowel plus 'l', English doubles the 'l' before adding -ed, which is exactly the spelling trap. The same pellere root also lies behind 'pulse' and 'repel', so the family of pushing and driving words all share this ancestor.

How the word is built

• pro- (forward)
• pel (from Latin pellere: to drive, push)
• -led (doubled l
• past tense -ed)