compulsory

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin compulsōrius (“coercive”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} from Latin compulsus, the past participle of compellō (“to drive together, force”),^[4][2][7] the source of compel.^[6][7] The verb is formed from com- (“with, together”) and pellō (“to drive”), which Watkins traces to Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to thrust, strike, drive”).^[4] The OED takes the Latin model to be formed on compulsor (“one who compels”), with the suffix that gives English -ory.^[8] Johnson derived it from French compulsoire.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, a means of compulsion, especially a legal mandate compelling obedience: before 1513, in Fabyan's chronicle;^[8] the 1510s in Etymonline and the early 16th century in the Oxford Dictionary of English.^[4][6]

Semantic evolution

The adjective followed in 1581, meaning compelled, enforced or obligatory;^[8][2][4] from 1631 it also meant compelling or coercive.^[8][4][5] From 1806 it could describe a person acting under compulsion.^[8] Johnson (1755) defined it as having the power of compelling.^[9] The obligatory sense became the main one, in set phrases such as compulsory education and compulsory games,^[8] and compulsory purchase,^[5] while the noun is now archaic.^[2] In ecclesiastical law a compulsory was an order compelling a witness to attend.^[10] Since 1926 the noun has also named a set routine of required moves in diving, figure skating and gymnastics.^[8]

Timeline

• a1513 – noun, a legal mandate compelling obedience.^[8]
• 1581 – adjective, compelled, enforced, obligatory.^[8][2]
• 1631 – compelling, coercive.^[8]
• 1806 – of a person, acting under compulsion.^[8]
• 1926 – noun, a required routine in diving or figure skating.^[8]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Required by a law or rule; obligatory or mandatory: Helmets are compulsory on the building site.
2. Involving or using compulsion; coercive.

Noun

1. In diving, figure skating or gymnastics, a routine made up of set required moves.
2. (archaic) A legal order or other means of compelling obedience.

Word family

• compulsorily
• compulsoriness
• noncompulsory

Related words

• compel
• compulsion
• compulsive
• expel
• propel
• repel

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West