different between compulsion vs compulsory

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?m-p?l'sh?n
• (UK) IPA^(key): /k?m?p?l.??n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /k?m?p?l.??n/

Noun

compulsion (countable and uncountable, plural compulsions)

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

2. The use of authority, influence, or other power to force (compel) a person or persons to act.
   • 2016 January 17, "Wealthy cabals run America," Al Jazeera America (retrieved 18 January 2016):

     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).

Related terms

• compulsive
• compulsory

Translations

Further reading

• compulsion in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• compulsion in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Etymology

From Latin compulsi?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.pyl.sj??/

Noun

compulsion f (plural compulsions)

1. compulsion

Related terms

• compulsif
• compulsionnel

Further reading

• “compulsion” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Late Latin compulsorius, from Latin compulsus.

Pronunciation

• enPR: k?m-p?l's?-r? IPA^(key): /k?m?p?ls?ri/

Adjective

compulsory (comparative more compulsory, superlative most compulsory)

1. Required; obligatory; mandatory.
   • 1827, A. D. Jr., Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, A. and C. Black, page 212:

     They are entirely private concerns, established by individual teachers, and attendance upon them is no more compulsory than attendance on our dispensaries.
2. Having the power of compulsion; constraining.

Synonyms

• mandatory

Antonyms

• (required): optional

Translations

Noun

compulsory (plural compulsories)

1. Something that is compulsory or required.