coercion

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coercion

/kəʊˈɜːʃən/ UK
/koʊˈɝʒən/ US
/koʊˈɝʃən/ US
/kəʉˈɜːʃən/ Australia
/kɐʉˈøːʃən/ New Zealand

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English cohercioun, from Old French cohercion, from Latin coërcitiō (“magisterial coercion”), from past participle coercitus of coërceō (“to restrain, coerce”), from co- (“with”) + arceō (“to shut in, enclose”); see coerce.

noun coercions · coersion · coërcion

uncountable Actual or threatened force for the purpose of compelling action by another person; the act of coercing. One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States is the creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work out a way of life free from coercion.
uncountable Use of physical or moral force to compel a person to do something, or to abstain from doing something, thereby depriving that person of the exercise of free will.
countable A specific instance of coercing.
countable Conversion of a value of one data type to a value of another data type.
countable, uncountable The process by which the meaning of a word or other linguistic element is reinterpreted to match the grammatical context. But often the pieces of information do not fit together and have to be shifted in meaning to confirm with the rest of the sentence. These shifts are called coercion
countable, uncountable The initiation or threat of conflict; aggression.

Opposite: noncoercion

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: compulsion, coercive, enforcement, imposition, forcible, duress, extortion, blackmail, subjugation, oppression, incitement, exigency, force, repression, suppression, compulsory

noun

Opposite: noncoercion

Translations

Every language

noun actual or threatened force for the purpose of compelling action by another person

Español	coerción
한국어	강제 gangje, 강압 gang'ap
日本語	強制 kyōsei, 威圧 iatsu, 強迫 kyōhaku
中文	強迫 /强迫 qiǎngpò, 威迫 wēipò
हिन्दी	ज़ोर-जबरदस्ती zor-jabardastī
Português	coação, coerção
Français	coercition
Deutsch	Zwang
Italiano	coercizione
Ελληνικά	εξαναγκασμός exanagkasmós, καταπίεση katapíesi
Română	coerciție
Русский	принужде́ние prinuždénije, наси́лие nasílije
Tiếng Việt	sự ép buộc
العربية	قَهْر qahr, قَسْر qasr, غَصْب ḡaṣb, عَنْت ʕant, دَفْع dafʕ, جَبْر jabr
עברית	כפייה kfi'a

noun use of force to compel

हिन्दी	प्रपीड़न prapīṛan, ज़ोर-जबरदस्ती zor-jabardastī
Português	coerção
Deutsch	Nötigung
Ελληνικά	εξαναγκασμός exanagkasmós
Română	coercitare
Русский	принужде́ние prinuždénije
العربية	إِكْرَاه ʔikrāh

noun instance of coercing

Ελληνικά	εξαναγκασμός exanagkasmós

noun computing: conversion of a value of one data type to another

Français	coercition
Русский	приведение privedenije

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Cite this

MLA

"coercion." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/coercion. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

coercion. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/coercion

Chicago

"coercion." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/coercion.

BibTeX

@misc{coercion_2026,
  title = {coercion},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/coercion},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}