compel

English

Etymology

From Middle English compellen, borrowed from Middle French compellir, from Latin compellere, itself from com- (“together”) + pellere (“to drive”). Displaced native Old English nīedan.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kəmˈpɛl/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛl
Hyphenation: com‧pel

Verb

compel (third-person singular simple present compels, present participle compelling, simple past and past participle compelled)

(transitive, archaic, literally) To drive together, round up (Can we add an example for this sense?)
(transitive) To overpower; to subdue.
- 1917, Upton Sinclair, chapter 16, in King Coal:
  She had one of those perfect faces, which irresistibly compel the soul of a man.
(transitive) To force, constrain or coerce.
Logic compels the wise, while fools feel compelled by emotions.
- 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 606515358, [Act V, scene i]:
  Against my will, / As Pompey was, am I compell’d to set / Upon one battle all our liberties.
- 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 156165476:
  Wolsey […] compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once.
- 2020, N. K. Jemisin, The City We Became, Orbit, page 173:
  And then she giggles, inordinately pleased by her own cleverness.
- December 15 2022, Samanth Subramanian, “Dismantling Sellafield: the epic task of shutting down a nuclear site”, in The Guardian‎:
  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.
(transitive) To exact, extort, (make) produce by force.
- 1613, 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 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:
  Commissions, which compel from each / The sixth part of his substance.
- 1912, L. Frank Baum, chapter 14, in Sky Island:
  The Queen has nothing but the power to execute the laws, to adjust grievances and to compel order.
(obsolete) To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
- 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 403869432:
  Easy sleep their weary limbs compell'd.
- 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], OCLC 911789798, page 79:
  And I will fetch you forage from all fields, / For I compel all creatures to my will.
(obsolete) To gather or unite in a crowd or company.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight’s Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415:
  in one troop compell'd
(obsolete) To call forth; to summon.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, stanza 5:
  She had this knight from far compeld.
- [1611?], Homer, “Book V”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, OCLC 614803194; The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], volume I, new edition, London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, OCLC 987451361:
  the pow'rs that I compel / Shall throw thee hence, and make thy head run ope the gates of hel

Derived terms

compellable
compeller
compelling
compellation
compel testimony

Related terms

compulsion

Translations

drive together, round up

Bulgarian: съби́рам (bg) impf (sǎbíram)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Dutch: bijeendrijven (nl), samendrijven (nl)
Finnish: ajaa kokoon, koota (fi)
Russian: собира́ть (ru) impf (sobirátʹ)

overpower

Armenian: ենթարկել (hy) (entʿarkel)
Bulgarian: подчиня́вам (bg) impf (podčinjávam)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: podrobit pf, podrobovat impf
Dutch: bedwingen (nl)
Finnish: alistaa (fi)
Galician: domear (gl)
German: zwingen (de)
Russian: подчиня́ть (ru) impf (podčinjátʹ)

force, constrain or coerce

Arabic: أَكْرَهَ‎ (ʾakraha), أَجْبَرَ‎ (ar) (ʾajbara), اِضْطَرَّ‎ (iḍṭarra)
Armenian: ստիպել (hy) (stipel), հարկադրել (hy) (harkadrel)
Azerbaijani: məcbur etmək
Belarusian: прымуша́ць impf (prymušácʹ), прыму́сіць pf (prymúsicʹ), змуша́ць impf (zmušácʹ), зму́сіць pf (zmúsicʹ)
Bulgarian: принужда́вам (bg) impf (prinuždávam), прину́дя pf (prinúdja), заста́вям (bg) impf (zastávjam), заста́вя (bg) pf (zastávja)
Catalan: obligar (ca), forçar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 強迫／强迫 (zh) (qiǎngpò, qiángpò)
Czech: nutit (cs) impf, donutit (cs) pf, přinutit (cs) pf
Dutch: dwingen (nl)
Esperanto: devigi
Finnish: pakottaa (fi), ajaa (fi)
French: contraindre (fr), forcer (fr)
Galician: apremar (gl), domear (gl), obrigar
German: zwingen (de), nötigen (de)
Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌰𐌵𐌹𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (anaqiujan), 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌾𐌰𐌽 (baidjan)
Greek: αναγκάζω (el) (anagkázo), υποχρεώνω (el) (ypochreóno)
Ancient: ἀναγκάζω (anankázō)
Italian: forzare (it), costringere (it), obbligare (it)
Japanese: 強いる (ja) (しいる, shiiru)
Korean: 강요하다 (ko) (gang'yohada)
Latin: compellō
Macedonian: присилува impf (prisiluva), принудува impf (prinuduva)
Maori: ā, uruhi
Mongolian: албадах (mn) (albadax)
Norwegian: tvinge
Old English: nīedan
Old Norse: nauðga
Polish: zmuszać (pl) impf, zmusić (pl) pf
Portuguese: forçar (pt), obrigar (pt)
Russian: заставля́ть (ru) impf (zastavljátʹ), заста́вить (ru) pf (zastávitʹ), принужда́ть (ru) impf (prinuždátʹ), прину́дить (ru) pf (prinúditʹ)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: си̏лити impf, прѝсилити pf
Roman: sȉliti (sh) impf, prìsiliti (sh) impf
Slovak: nútiť impf, donútiť pf, prinútiť pf
Slovene: prisiliti pf
Spanish: obligar (es), forzar (es), compeler (es)
Swedish: tvinga (sv)
Ukrainian: приму́шувати (uk) impf (prymúšuvaty), приму́сити pf (prymúsyty), зму́шувати impf (zmúšuvaty), зму́сити pf (zmúsyty)

exact by force

Armenian: պարտադրել (hy) (partadrel)
Bulgarian: принужда́вам (bg) impf (prinuždávam), наси́лвам (bg) impf (nasílvam)
Chinese:
Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
Czech: přinutit (cs) pf, přinucovat impf, vynutit pf, vynucovat impf
Dutch: afdwingen (nl)
Finnish: johtaa (fi), johdattaa (fi)
French: obliger (fr)
German: zwingen (de)
Maori: uruhi
Russian: обя́зывать (ru) impf (objázyvatʹ), вынужда́ть (ru) impf (vynuždátʹ), обяза́ть (ru) pf (objazátʹ), вы́нудить (ru) pf (výnuditʹ)
Spanish: obligar (es), forzar (es), compeler (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: ^{(please verify)} contraindre (fr)
Old English: ^{(please verify)} bǣdan

References

compel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
“compel”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
Random House Webster’s Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.