enforce

▪ I. † enˈforce, n. Obs.
    [f. next vb.: cf. afforce.]
    Effort, exertion.

1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 448 Thai that var With gret enforss assalȝeand thar. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patrum (W. de W. 1495) i. xlii. 68 b/2, All her enforce auaylled her not. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (1531) 13 b, We desyre..with all the enforce and myght of our hertes to be with hym. 1671 Milton Samson 1220 A petty enterprise of small enforce.

▪ II. enforce, v.
    (ɛnˈfɔəs)
    Forms: α. 4–7 enforse, (4 ? enforth, 6 enfoarce), 4– enforce. β. 4–7 inforse, (6 infors), 5– inforce.
    [ad. OF. enforcier, enforcir:—late L. infortiāre, infortīre, f. in- (see in-) + fortis strong; see also en- prefix¹ and force n.]
    I. To put force or strength into.
    † 1. trans. To strengthen (a fortress) by extra works, (an army, navy, town, etc.) by extra ships, troops, etc.; to occupy in force; to reinforce. Obs.

α 1340–70 Alisaunder 908 Enforced were þe entres with egre men fele. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xxxvii. 177 Morys of Murrawe..Ðat syne enforsyt it [þat Castelle] grettumly. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xlvi. 63 The frenche kynge enforced his great nauy that he had on the see. 1557 Paynel Barclay's Jugurth 52 He ordeyned as it were a forward enforced with a threfold subsidie, or socour. 1668 Temple Lett. Ld. Arlington Wks. 1731 II. 61 To enforce the Towns of Flanders by..our Troops. 1755 Edwards Wks. (1834) I. Introd. 209/2 The French were in constant expectation of being greatly enforced by a large body.

β 1375 Barbour Bruce iv. 65 [Thai] inforsit the castell sua. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 376 Provided and inforced with men of war in divers forein Parts. 1697 Dryden Virg. (1806) IV. 153 The brave Messapus shall thy troops inforce With those of Tibur.

    † 2. To strengthen in a moral sense; to impart resolution or fortitude to (a person); to encourage (const. to with inf.); to strengthen (a resolve, a purpose). Obs.

c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶656 This vertu.. enhaunsith and enforceth the soule. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 178/3 Yet was saynt barnabe a man enforced to suffre paynes. 1534 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel (1546) O vj, By suche exaumples..the good people shoulde enforce them selues. 1626 Bacon Sylva (1677) §314 To enforce the Spirits by some Mixture, that may excite and quicken them. 1685 R. Berkeley in Mem. (1857) III. 275 Sir, if the entreaties of a friend can enforce the resolves of so great a philosopher.

    † 3. To add force to, intensify, strengthen (a feeling, desire, influence); to impart fresh vigour or energy to (an action, movement, attack, etc.). Obs.

α 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 355 Douglass..enforsit on thame the cry. c 1400 Rom. Rose 4499 Now mote my sorwe enforced be. c 1450 Merlin ix. 136 And so began the turnement newe to enforse for the rescewe of theire felowes. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. lxxvi. 97 The next day to enforce the assaut. 1563 J. Man Musculus' Commonpl. 34 a, Enforcing up his noyse littel and littel. 1727 Pope, etc., Art Sinking 76 Hang on lead to..enforce our descent. 1741 Middleton Cicero (1742) III. xii. 287 He [Cicero]..used to enforce the severity of his abstinence. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 63 ¶12 The temptations to do ill are multiplied and enforced. 1775 T. Sheridan Art Reading 102 Their [the consonants'] sound should be enforced.

β 1513 Douglas æneis i. ii. 31 Infors thi wyndis. 1534 Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) N iv, He..inforceth his appetite, to know more. 1691–8 Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 374 Conviction of the Worlds Vanity..as an inner spring actuates and inforces all our outward motions. a 1716 South Serm. I. vi. (R.), The same authority, and evidence, that inforced the former.

    † b. To give legal force to; to ratify. Obs. rare^—1.

1756 P. Browne Jamaica 5 His majesty..always inforces or makes void all the acts passed by them.

    4. To press home (an argument, etc.); to urge (a demand, etc.); formerly, also, to lay stress upon, emphasize (a fact, circumstance).

α c 1449 [see enforcing vbl. n.]. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, iv. i. 90 Against Aumerle we will enforce his Tryall. 1600 Holland Livy v. iv. 181 Much against my stomacke, O Quirites, enforce I this point. 1635 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 43 The Warrant for his execution [being] tendered, and somewhat enforced, she [the Queen] refused to sign it. a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. (J.), Enforcing the ill consequence of his refusal to take the office. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. II. 68 Where infinite rewards are thus inforc'd..natural motives to goodness are apt to be neglected. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 87 ¶14 The preacher..enforcing a precept of religion. 1832 H. Martineau Ireland ii. 33 In order to enforce what he had said. 1870 Anderson Missions Amer. Bd. II. ix. 74 Hoapile enforced his claim by an argument from a reciprocity of rights and duties. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 76 Failed ye to enforce the maxim.

β 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 92 How much every degree is still inforced one above another. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone i. iv, To inforce..Your cares, your watchings, and your many prayers. 1628 T. Spencer Logick 308 The presence of that doth inforce the absence of the rest. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 24 ¶5 This monition might very properly be inforced. 1775 Adair Amer. Ind. 61 To inforce their musical speech.

    † b. With obj. clause, or accus. and inf.: To assert, argue forcibly. Obs.

1579 J. Knewstub Confut. 5 Upon order taken for procuring things to be done, H.N. will necessarily enforce that the same are done. 1613 Life Will. Conq. in Select. fr. Harl. Misc. (1793) 8 He inforced it to be a good title.

    † 5. To exert (one's strength). Obs.

1490 Caxton Eneydos (1889) 18 By grete myghte and bodyli strengthe enforced his puyssaunce for to arache and plucke vp the same tree.

    † b. refl. To exert oneself, strive. Const. to with inf. Also to with n.: To strive after, rush into. Obs.

α c 1340 Cursor M. 18089 Enforseþ ȝou wiþ myȝte & meyn Stalworþely to stonde aȝeyn. c 1386 Chaucer Melib. ¶209 Suche as enforcen hem rathere to prayse youre persone by flaterie. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 61 Eve..enforced her to excuse her of her misdede and synne. 1526 Tindale Rom. xv. 20 So have I enforsed my selfe to preache the gospell. 1533 Bellenden Livy iii. (1822) 213 He enforcit himself to batall. 1535 Fisher Wks. 381 Such soules also as..enforce them selues to a great loue. 1557 North Gueuara's Diall Pr. Prol. A 1 α, We may enforce our selfes to worke amendes. 1693 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 535 To enforce, or strain himself earnestly, conari.

β c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 60 [Man] inforsith hymself to be alway gretter and gretter. 1513 Douglas æneis x. vii. 177 Pallas..Inforcis hym to greif hys fays that tyde. 1541 Elyot Image Gov. 43 He..inforceth him selfe to brenne the houses. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts, N.T. 85 Inforce yourselves to use all diligent..indeavours.

    † 6. intr. for refl. To strive, attempt, physically or mentally. Of a ship: To make way. Obs.

α c 1340 Hampole Prose Tr. 2 It enforthis for to halde besyly in it the swetteste name of Ihesu. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. i. 30 She vseþ ful flatryng familarite wiþ hem þat she enforceþ to bygyle. 1382 Wyclif 1 Kings xix. 10 Saul enforside to fitche to gidre with a spere Dauid in the wal. ― Acts xxv. 15 The schipp was rauyschid, and myȝte not enforse into the wynd. 1490 Caxton How to Die 4 The deuylle enforseth to brynge to him sorowe vpon sorow. 1557 N.T. (Genev.) 1 Thess. ii. 17 We enforsed the more to se your face. 1595 Spenser Col. Clout 482 Thrise happie Mayd, Whom thou doest so enforce to deifie.

β 1513 Douglas æneis v. i. 37 Nor we may nocht strife, nor enforce [ed. 1557 inforce] sa fast Agane the storme. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 377 False Prophets..inforce to quench the true vnderstanding of the lawe.

    II. To bring force to bear upon.
    † 7. trans. To drive by force: a. by physical force, as a stone from a sling, a person from a place. Also, to enforce open, and simply.

c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 938 And enforsed alle fawre forth at þe ȝatez. 1555 Fardle Facions i. vi. 94 There come into that coaste, infinite swarmes of Gnattes, without any drifte of winde to enforce them. 1596 Harington Metam. Ajax (1814) 109 The very nature of fire helpeth to enforce [air] upward. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, iv. vii. 65 As swift as stones Enforced from the old Assyrian slings. 1600 Hakluyt Voy. (1810) III. 189 If we be inforced by contrary windes. 1627 Speed England xxi. §8 Yet hath she [Lincoln] not escaped the calamitie of sword, as in the time of the Saxons; whence Arthur enforced their Host. 1644 Quarles Barnabas & B. (1851) 194 Nor can my stronger groans enforce the portals open. 1649 Selden Laws Eng. ii. xii. (1739) 67 Those that would reduce him, he enforces into foreign Countries.

    b. by mental or moral force: To drive a person to or from a belief, sentiment, or course of action.

1542 Henry VIII Declar. Scots 192 Beying novve enforced to the warre. 1591 Drayton Noah in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 119 From remorce In his own nature you doe him inforce. 1635 Austin Medit. 101 To this observance [fasting]..Nature should inforce us. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. i. 1 It..hath enforced them unto strange conceptions. 1664 Dryden Rival Ladies ii. i. (1725) 209, I am inforc'd to trust you with my most near Concerns.

    † 8. To use force upon; to press hard upon. Also fig. to press hard upon, urge, with arguments, taunts, entreaties, etc. Obs.

138. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 378 [Naaman] enforsid hym þat he schuld haue take þo giftis. c 1400 Rom. Rose 6409 Thou shalt not streyne me a dele, Ne enforce me. 1494 Fabyan vii. ccxlv. 288 Eyther prynce enforsed so straytly that other, that eyther of theym were vnhorsed. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 176 If you thinke not this..truth, I will not enforce you. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 112 The Flint..much inforced, shewes a hastie Sparke. 1605 Camden Rem. 212 He besieged Orleans, and had so enforced it, that the Inhabitants were willing..to yeelde themselves. a 1618 Raleigh Rem. (1644) 36 It is not the part of a just Civil Prince..to enforce such a Countrey. 1662 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 279 He enforced him no further.

    b. intr. in same sense: to enforce upon. Obs.

1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. To Rdr., How much more the sickenesse enforced vpon me, so much lesse I spared myselfe. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 98 The French men..so enforced upon them, that they..tooke the sayde Arthur prisoner. 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 16/1 They still pressing & inforcing vpon him.

    † 9. To overcome by violence; to take (a town) by storm; to force, ravish (a woman); also fig.

α c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶900 If the womman maugré hir heed hath ben enforced or noon. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour E vj b, He..enforced their wyues. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. 165 They enforced it in two dayes, and likewise the Castle, making slaughter of all the footmen that were withdrawne thither. 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 423 Howsoeuer they labour to enforce (as it were) their conscience. 1631 Chapman Cæsar & Pompey Plays 1873 III. 172 The great authority of Rome Would faine enforce me by their mere suspitions.

β 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 250 A, Inforce theyr wyues and their children. 1577 Test. 12 Patriarchs 52 Ye shall..inforce maidens in Jerusalem.

    10. To compel, constrain, oblige. Said of both persons and circumstances. Const. to with inf. arch.

α 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xii. 12 They were xi days in the shyppe, and enforced it to saile as moche as they myghte. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 13 [They] were at the length, enforsed to departe. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 5 My seruing you..Enforced this to come to pas. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. (1682) 107 Accompanied with two Goddesses; the one was (Eloquence) to perswade them, and the other was (Violence) to enforce them. 1649 Selden Laws Eng. ii. ii. (1739) 15 The Parliament was sometimes enforced to adjourn it self for want of number sufficient. 1733 Neal Hist. Purit. II. 387 [He] had been..enforced to enter into a bond of a thousand pounds. 1801 Southey Thalaba v. xxxv, Only by strong and torturing spells enforced. 1837 Sir F. Palgrave Merch. & Friar i. (1844) 17 You would have been enforced to compress your missive within..scanty bounds.

β 1509–10 Act 1 Hen. VIII, c. 12 Pream., The Parties..were inforced and constrayned to sue ther Lyverey..oute of the Handes of the seid late Kyng. 1581 W. Stafford Exam. Compl. iii. (1876) 82 The husbandman was necessarily inforced..to sel his Victayles dearer. 1691 Locke Money Wks. 1727 II. 33 The Bargain being made, the Law will inforce the Borrower to pay it.

    III. To produce, impose, effect, by force.
    † 11. To produce by force, material or immaterial; to extort (tears, concessions, etc.) from a person; to force (a passage); to bring on (a quarrel, etc.) by force; to force on. Obs.

α 1586 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. iii. ii, With shivering spears enforcing thunder-claps. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary i. (1625) 42 My paper burthened with this long discourse..enforceth an end. 1594 Greene & Lodge Looking Glasse (1861) 131 Dare you enforce the furrows of revenge Within the brows of royal Radagon? 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iv. iii. (1616) 48 Why, how now, brother, who enforst this brawle? 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. xi. (1821) 134 The White Knight..condemned both his Sonne and people for their folly, to enforce a fight. 1812 J. Henry Camp. agst. Quebec 134 The endurances we underwent..enforced many a tear.

β 1531–46 Elyot Governour (1883) ii. 215 Iniurie apparaunt and with powar inforced..may be with lyke powar resisted. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. Pref. Ep. 1 The long interceassing of so great a benefite, inforced through the tyrannie of Antichrist. 1611 Lanyer Salve Deus in Farr S.P. Jas. I (1848) 230 Your cries inforced mercie, grace, and loue, From Him whom greatest princes would not moue. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. iii. iii. (1651) 212 By the striking of a flint fire is inforced. 1636 G. Sandys Paraphr. Div. Poems Ex. xv. (1648) 2 Pharaohs Chariots..Twixt walls of Seas their way inforce. 1674 Playford Skill Mus. i. 54 To feign them, or at the least to inforce Notes.

    † 12. To force, obtrude (something) on a person.

1601 Shakes. All's Well ii. i. 129, I will no more enforce mine office on you.

    13. To compel by physical or moral force (the performance of an action, conformity to a rule, etc.); to impose (a course of conduct) on a person.

1649 Selden Laws Eng. i. xiii. (1739) 23 This course was..inforced upon them by a Roman Constitution. 1712 Berkeley Pass. Obed. §3 A supreme power of making laws, and enforcing the observation of them. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xiv, To enforce upon his fiery temper compliance with the rules of civil life. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. i. ii. 143 He declared his determination to enforce obedience to the order. 1859 Kingsley Misc. (1860) II. 63 The bloated tyrant..enforced payment by scourge and thumbscrew. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 123 They are to enforce the education of their children upon unwilling parents.

    14. To compel the observance of (a law); to support by force (a claim, demand, obligation).

α 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. iv. 25 A deflowred maid, And by an eminent body, that enforc'd The Law against it! 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. iii. §13 There was neither jail nor executioner in his kingdom to enforce the laws. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 131 It should be the business of the legislature..to enforce this Divine precept. 1839 Thirlwall Greece V. 265 Sparta..paid no regard to the sentence, which, after the battle of Mantinea, there was none to enforce. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. I. 503 They sent a body of 1000 infantry and 300 horse to enforce their demand.

β 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 652 This law was inforced..with a rigour at once cruel and ludicrous.

    b. absol. rare.

1876 Grote Eth. Fragm. ii. 39 If as an individual he is obliged to obey, as one of the public he is entitled to enforce upon other individuals.

Oxford English Dictionary