force

Pronunciation

• IPA: /fɔʁs/^[1]

Forms

force f (plural forces)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French force, inherited from Late Latin fortia (“deeds of strength or courage”), recorded from the 4th century, the neuter plural of fortis (“strong, brave”) (see fort) taken as a feminine noun; in Church Latin it meant “strength”.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Littré doubted that it was the neuter plural, since nouns from neuter plurals usually have a collective sense.^[6]

Cognate with Old Occitan forsa, Spanish fuerza, Portuguese força and Italian forza.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) for a person's physical strength, ma force e ma baldur “my strength and my boldness”, and for the use of violent means, par force e par vigur.^[7][2]

Semantic evolution

About 1135 it meant a moral power able to produce an effect, about 1200 courage and the intensity of a feeling (force d'Amour), and in Boileau (1669–1673) intellectual capacity.^[7][2] Violence is in Chrétien de Troyes (1176–1181), and the plural forces “armed men, troops” in his Cligès (1176), whence later forces politiques.^[7][2]

About 1200 it meant a great number, and, from the mid-13th century force + noun “many” (force gens), now literary.^[7] Phrases include à la force du poignet, la force de l'âge (1764), tour de force and de force.^[2] From the 13th century it also named the degree of power of a physical agent, and its sense in physics took shape as physics developed, à force de “by dint of” dates from the early 14th century.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Force in the Chanson de Roland.^[7]
• c. 1135 – A moral power.^[7]
• 1176 – Forces “troops”, in Chrétien de Troyes.^[7]
• c. 1200 – Courage; a great number.^[7]
• Mid-13th century – Force + noun “many”.^[7]
• 1669–1673 – Intellectual capacity, in Boileau.^[7]
• 1764 – La force de l'âge.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. strength, physical power: la force d'un athlète.^[8][1]
2. Moral strength, courage; mental power.^[7][2]
3. force, violence, compulsion: par la force, de force.^[7]
4. (plural) Armed forces, troops.^[7][2]
5. Power, intensity, effect: la force d'un sentiment, la force de l'habitude.^[7]
6. (physics) A force acting on a body.^[2]
7. À force de: by dint of.^[2]

Adverb

1. (literary) Many, a lot of: force gens.^[7][1]

Word family

• forcément
• forcer
• renforcer

Related words

• fort
• fortifier
• Latin fortis

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 726a
6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert