coercion

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   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.

2. 2
   noun

   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.

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.

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