force French · revision 16407

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=la fortis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fɔʁs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''force''' ''f'' (plural forces)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|force]], [[inh|la-lat|fortia|t=deeds of strength or courage]], recorded from the 4th century, the neuter plural of [[m|la|fortis|t=strong, brave]] (see [[fort]]) taken as a feminine noun; in Church Latin it meant “strength”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 726a)^(Wiktionary) Littré doubted that it was the neuter plural, since nouns from neuter plurals usually have a collective sense.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|forsa]], [[es|fuerza]], [[pt|força]] and [[it|forza]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Violence'' is in Chrétien de Troyes (1176–1181), and the plural ''forces'' “armed men, troops” in his ''Cligès'' (1176), whence later ''forces politiques''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ About 1200 it meant a great number, and, from the mid-13th century ''force'' + noun “many” (''force gens''), now literary.^(TLFi) Phrases include ''à la force du poignet'', ''la force de l'âge'' (1764), ''tour de force'' and ''de force''.^(DHLF 1992) 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.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Force'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1135 – A moral power.^(TLFi)

+ * 1176 – ''Forces'' “troops”, in Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – Courage; a great number.^(TLFi)

+ * Mid-13th century – ''Force'' + noun “many”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1669–1673 – Intellectual capacity, in Boileau.^(TLFi)

+ * 1764 – ''La force de l'âge''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|strength]], physical power: ''la force d'un athlète''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Moral strength, courage; mental power.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # [[m|en|force]], violence, compulsion: ''par la force'', ''de force''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(plural)'' Armed [[m|en|forces]], troops.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Power, intensity, effect: ''la force d'un sentiment'', ''la force de l'habitude''.^(TLFi)

+ # ''(physics)'' A force acting on a body.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''À force de'': by dint of.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(literary)'' Many, a lot of: ''force gens''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[forcément]]

+ * [[forcer]]

+ * [[renforcer]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fort]]

+ * [[fortifier]]

+ * [[la|fortis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}