English
compel
Compel comes from Middle French compellir ‘to compel’, from Latin pellō ‘to push, drive, hurl, impel, propel’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱóm‘beside, near, by, with’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kom‘with, along, at’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*kom-‘together’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnō‘to approach’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellō‘to push, drive, hurl, impel, propel’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompellere
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600compellir‘to compel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500compellen‘to force, coerce’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590compel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱóm‘beside, near, by, with’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kom‘with, along, at’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*kom-‘together’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnō‘to approach’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellō‘to push, drive, hurl, impel, propel’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompellere
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600compellir‘to compel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500compellen‘to force, coerce’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590compel
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto I: “She had this knight from far compeld.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘Deictic particle, here’
through Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’
among, gain, hind, likeness, comply, kata, limbed, 32 more
through Proto-Italic *kom ‘with, along, at’
consideration, cum, cue, 15 more
through Proto-Italic *kom- ‘together’
conference, consider, counter, consistent, concrete, con, commodity, contra, concierge, connotation, condiment, condescend, 16 more
through Proto-Italic *pelnō ‘to approach’
impulse, repellent, repulse, 10 more
through Latin pellō ‘to push, drive, hurl, impel, propel’
appeal, pulse, repeal, propulsion, expulsion, compulsory, appellate, expel, propel, repel, dispel, pelt, rappel, impel, 16 more
through Latin compellere
Today it means
verb To drive together, round up.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm / compel