force majeure

force majeure

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French force majeure, first known use in English in 1883, (first documented in French in 1690 in the sense "exceptional, exceptionally strong force"; in modern French, however, the term is only used to refer to an event or an imperative necessity in a more or less loose use of the legal concept, never to a force, as in the older, literal sense still additionally found in English), from majeur in the sense "major, main, of great importance", by extension of the older sense "greater, more important", from Latin māior (“larger, greater”).[1]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːs məˈʒɜː/, /ˈfɔːs mɑˈʒɜː/, /ˈfɔːs mæˈʒɜː/

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: force ma‧jeure

Noun

force majeure (usually uncountable, plural forces majeures)

1. An overwhelming force.
   • 2013 October 31, “A&E 2013 Surveys: Weber Thompson”, in Daily Journal of Commerce‎:

     Gen Y is a "force majeure" that will determine the future of the housing market. They are looking for housing solutions that cater to their mobile- and technology-focused lifestyles.

2. (law) An unavoidable catastrophe, especially one that prevents someone from fulfilling a legal obligation.
   • 2013 October 22, “Brazil's Copersucar declares force majeure to 3rd party sugar shippers”, in Reuters‎:

     Brazil's largest trader of sugar and ethanol declared force majeure to some third party exporters of sugar with contracts to ship through its Santos Port terminal that burned down on Friday, sources in the sugar trade said.

   • 2013 November 3, “Observer Magazine Competition: Win a Moncrief bag and Ipad case! [terms and conditions]”, in The Observer‎, London:

     18. GNM [Guardian News & Media Limited] shall not be liable for any failure to comply with its obligations where the failure is caused by something outside its reasonable control. Such circumstances shall include, but not be limited to, weather conditions, fire, flood, hurricane, strike, industrial dispute, war, hostilities, political unrest, riots, civil commotion, inevitable accidents, supervening legislation or any other circumstances amounting to force majeure.

   • 2022 July 18, “Russia’s Gazprom tells European buyers it cannot guarantee gas supplies”, in The Guardian‎:

     Dated 14 July, the letter from the Russian state gas monopoly said it was declaring force majeure on supplies, starting from 14 June.

Translations

overwhelming force

Chinese: Mandarin: 不可抗力 (zh) (bùkěkànglì) Danish: please add this translation if you can Dutch: please add this translation if you can Finnish: päätekijä French: force majeure (fr) f Indonesian: keadaan kahar (id) Polish: siła wyższa (pl) f Portuguese: força maior f Russian: непреодоли́мая си́ла f (nepreodolímaja síla) Slovene: višja sila f

unavoidable catastrophe

Chinese: Mandarin: 不可抗力 (zh) (bùkěkànglì) Czech: vyšší moc f Danish: force majeure Dutch: overmacht (nl) m Estonian: vääramatu jõud Finnish: ylivoimainen este, force majeure (fi) French: cas fortuit m, force majeure (fr) German: höhere Gewalt (de) f, Force majeure f Greek: ανωτέρα βία f (anotéra vía) Indonesian: keadaan kahar (id), keadaan memaksa (id) Italian: forza maggiore f, caso fortuito m Japanese: 不可抗力 (ja) (fukakōryoku) Persian: فرس ماژور‎ (fa) (fors-mâžor) Polish: siła wyższa (pl) f Portuguese: força maior f Russian: форс-мажо́р (ru) m (fors-mažór) Spanish: fuerza mayor f, caso fortuito m Swedish: force majeure (sv) Turkish: mücbir sebep (tr) Welsh: gorfodaeth f

See also

• act of God
• vis major

References

1. “majeur”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Danish

Etymology

From French force majeure.

Noun

force majeure

1. (law) force majeure

Further reading

• “force majeure” in Den Danske Ordbog

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔʁ.s(ə) ma.ʒœʁ/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

force majeure f (usually uncountable, plural forces majeures)

1. (law) force majeure

   cas de force majeure ― act of God

Descendants

• → Danish: force majeure
• → English: force majeure
• → Ottoman Turkish: فورس ماژور‎
  • Turkish: forsmajör

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Indonesian

Etymology

Internationalism, unadapted borrowing from French force majeure.

Phrase

force majeure

1. (law) force majeure

   Synonyms: daya paksa, keadaan kahar, keadaan memaksa, overmacht