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compulsion

noun
/kəmˈpʌl.ʃən/

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French compulsion, from Late Latin compulsiō, from Latin compellere (“to compel, coerce”); see compel.

  1. derived from compellere
  2. derived from compulsiō
  3. borrowed from compulsion

Definitions

  1. An irrational need or irresistible urge to perform some action, often despite negative…

    An irrational need or irresistible urge to perform some action, often despite negative consequences.

    • During the basketball game, I had a sudden compulsion to have a smoke.

  2. The use of authority, influence, or other power to force (compel) a person or persons to…

    The use of authority, influence, or other power to force (compel) a person or persons to act.

    • From the opening of the City & South London Railway independent electric locomotives were used under compulsion of the Board of Trade.
    • But Treaty translator and Ottawa leader Andrew Blackbird described the Treaty as made “not with the free will of the Indians, but by compulsion.”

  3. The lawful use of violence (i.e. by the administration).

The neighborhood

Derived

compulsional, compulsionary, compulsion loop, noncompulsion

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at compulsion. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01compulsion02perform03pattern04annoyance05annoyed06unwanted07wanted08enforcement

A definitional loop anchored at compulsion. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at compulsion

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA