forzare

Forms

forzare (first-person singular present fòrzo, first-person singular past historic forzài, past participle forzàto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *fortiāre (“to force”), a verb formed on Late Latin fortia (“strength, force”), originally the neuter plural of Latin fortis (“strong”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Wiktionary adds that the verb can also be analysed as from Italian forza + -are, and the TLIO allows a derivation from forte.^[1][6]

The Vulgar Latin verb survives in Romansh fortser, French forcer (12th century), Occitan forsar, Catalan forsar, Spanish forzar and Portuguese forçar.^[7][8][9] DEI places it in Italy, France and Provence, and the Spanish and Portuguese words only secondarily.^[8] De Vaan finds the origin of the adjective unclear: he thinks a link with farciō (“to stuff”) the best fit, and rejects one with Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“high”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Lombard Istoria of Pseudo-Uguccione, from the first half of the 13th century.^[6] DELI's first record, from the end of the 13th century, is Dante da Maiano's line Io son forzato da forza d'amore (I am forced by the force of love), with the sense “compel by force”.^[2][9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian the verb also meant “to strengthen”, of a fortified place or of a person, and to do violence to someone, to break a law, and to rape.^[6][9] Old and dialect forms include forsare and northern forçar.^[6][9]

The military sense, storming a stronghold or breaking through a line, is recorded before 1363 in M. Villani, and the sense “break open” (a door, a lock) before 1587 in Cecchi.^[2][11] Leonardo, before 1519, uses it for pressing on something.^[2] Pushing something beyond its proper limits, and so stretching the sense of a text, became a common figurative use.^[2][4] The intransitive use, of something too tight, is recorded in 1869.^[2]

In music forzare is a marking equivalent to sforzando.^[12] German borrowed it as forzen about 1440, and the verb was borrowed as Romanian forța.^[13][1]

Timeline

• First half of the 13th century – The Istoria of Pseudo-Uguccione uses the verb.^[6]
• End of the 13th century – Dante da Maiano writes son forzato da forza d'amore.^[2]
• Before 1363 – M. Villani uses it for storming a fortified place.^[2]
• About 1440 – German forzen is recorded.^[13]
• Before 1519 – Leonardo uses it for pressing on something.^[2]
• Before 1587 – Cecchi uses it for breaking something open.^[2]
• 1869 – The intransitive “to be too tight” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To force, push or press something hard against resistance: forzare un coperchio sul barattolo.^{[4][14][15][1]}
2. To break open, pick a lock or door: forzare un lucchetto.^[4][14][12]
3. (military, sport) To break through a line or a block: forzare la barriera dei difensori.^[4][14][15]
4. To strain something beyond its normal effort: forzare la voce, to sing or speak too loud or high.^[4][14][15]
5. To compel someone to do something: forzare qualcuno a parlare.^{[4][16][12][15]}
6. (figurative) To stretch the meaning of words or a text: forzare il significato di una parola.^[4][14][12]
7. (agriculture) To force plants, making them flower or fruit early.^[4][16][15]
8. (dated) To rape.^[4][12]
9. (intransitive) To be too tight, or to stick: questa finestra forza.^{[16][12][15][5]}

Reflexive verb

1. forzarsi: to make oneself do something: forzarsi a mangiare.^[16][12]

Word family

• forzato
• forzatura
• forzabile
• forzamento
• forzante
• forzatore
• inforzare

Related words

• forza
• forte
• French forcer

Usage notes

Set phrases include forzare la mano (to push someone into acting), forzare i tempi (to speed things up) and forzare la consegna (to disobey orders).^[4][12][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
6. ^ a b c d e Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1696
9. ^ a b c d Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c d e f g h Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
14. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c d e f g Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
16. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse