different between force vs lever

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: fôrs, IPA^(key): /f??s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??s/
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) enPR: f?rs, IPA^(key): /fo(?)?s/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /fo?s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s

Etymology 1

From Middle English force, fors, forse, from Old French force, from Late Latin or Vulgar Latin *fortia, from neuter plural of Latin fortis (“strong”).

Noun

force (countable and uncountable, plural forces)

1. Strength or energy of body or mind; active power; vigour; might; capacity of exercising an influence or producing an effect.
2. Power exerted against will or consent; compulsory power; violence; coercion.
   • 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, part II

     which now they hold by force, and not by right

3. (countable) Anything that is able to make a substantial change in a person or thing.
4. (countable, physics) A physical quantity that denotes ability to push, pull, twist or accelerate a body and which has a direction and is measured in a unit dimensioned in mass × distance/time² (ML/T²): SI: newton (N); CGS: dyne (dyn)
5. Something or anything that has the power to produce a physical effect upon something else, such as causing it to move or change shape.
6. (countable) A group that aims to attack, control, or constrain.
   • 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline

     Is Lucius general of the forces?

   • "A fine man, that Dunwody, yonder," commented the young captain, as they parted, and as he turned to his prisoner. "We'll see him on in Washington some day. He is strengthening his forces now against Mr. Benton out there. […]."
8. (uncountable) The ability to attack, control, or constrain.

9. (countable) A magic trick in which the outcome is known to the magician beforehand, especially one involving the apparent free choice of a card by another person.
10. (law) Legal validity.

11. (law) Either unlawful violence, as in a "forced entry", or lawful compulsion.
12. (linguistics, semantics, pragmatics) Ability of an utterance or its element (word, form, prosody, ...) to effect a given meaning.
13. (humorous or science fiction, with the, often capitalized) A metaphysical and ubiquitous power from the fictional Star Wars universe created by George Lucas. See usage note. [1977]
14. Synonym of police force (“typically with preceding "the"”)

Usage notes

• Adjectives often applied to "force": military, cultural, economic, gravitational, electric, magnetic, strong, weak, positive, negative, attractive, repulsive, good, evil, dark, physical, muscular, spiritual, intellectual, mental, emotional, rotational, tremendous, huge.
• (science fiction): Outside of fiction, the force may be used as an alternative to invoking luck, destiny, or God. For example, the force was with him instead of luck was on his side, or may the force be with you instead of may God be with you.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

• may the Force be with you
• workforce

Related terms

Translations

References

• force on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

From Middle English forcen, from Old French forcer, from Late Latin *forti?re, from Latin fortia.

Verb

force (third-person singular simple present forces, present participle forcing, simple past and past participle forced)

1. (transitive) To violate (a woman); to rape. [from 14^thc.]
2. (obsolete, reflexive, intransitive) To exert oneself, to do one's utmost. [from 14^thc.]

   • And I pray you for my sake to force yourselff there, that men may speke you worshyp.

3. (transitive) To compel (someone or something) to do something. [from 15^thc.]

   • Captain Edward Carlisle […] felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, […]; he could not tell what this prisoner might do. He cursed the fate which had assigned such a duty, cursed especially that fate which forced a gallant soldier to meet so superb a woman as this under handicap so hard.

   • 2011, Tim Webb & Fiona Harvey, The Guardian, 23 March:

     Housebuilders had warned that the higher costs involved would have forced them to build fewer homes and priced many homebuyers out of the market.

4. (transitive) To constrain by force; to overcome the limitations or resistance of. [from 16^thc.]
5. (transitive) To drive (something) by force, to propel (generally + prepositional phrase or adverb). [from 16^thc.]

   • It stuck so fast, so deeply buried lay / That scarce the victor forced the steel away.

   • Ethelbert […] ordered that none should be forced into religion.

   • 2007, The Guardian, 4 November:

     In a groundbreaking move, the Pentagon is compensating servicemen seriously hurt when an American tank convoy forced them off the road.

6. (transitive) To cause to occur (despite inertia, resistance etc.); to produce through force. [from 16^thc.]
   • 2009, "All things to Althingi", The Economist, 23 July:

     The second problem is the economy, the shocking state of which has forced the decision to apply to the EU.

7. (transitive) To forcibly open (a door, lock etc.). [from 17^thc.]

8. To obtain or win by strength; to take by violence or struggle; specifically, to capture by assault; to storm, as a fortress.
9. (transitive, baseball) To create an out by touching a base in advance of a runner who has no base to return to while in possession of a ball which has already touched the ground.

10. (whist) To compel (an adversary or partner) to trump a trick by leading a suit that he/she does not hold.
11. (archaic) To put in force; to cause to be executed; to make binding; to enforce.
    • c. 1613, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi

      What can the church force more?

12. (archaic) To provide with forces; to reinforce; to strengthen by soldiers; to man; to garrison.
13. (obsolete) To allow the force of; to value; to care for.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• Imperial unit: foot pound
• metric unit: newton
• coerce: To control by force.

Etymology 3

From Middle English force, forz, fors, from Old Norse fors (“waterfall”), from Proto-Germanic *fursaz (“waterfall”). Cognate with Icelandic foss (“waterfall”), Norwegian foss (“waterfall”), Swedish fors (“waterfall”). Doublet of foss.

Noun

force (plural forces)

1. (countable, Northern England) A waterfall or cascade.
   • 1778, Thomas West, A Guide to the Lakes in Cumberland, Westmorland, and Lancashire

     to see the falls or force of the river Kent

Derived terms

• forcefall

Translations

Etymology 4

From Middle English forcen, forsen, a use of force, with confusion of farce (“to stuff”).

Verb

force (third-person singular simple present forces, present participle forcing, simple past and past participle forced)

1. To stuff; to lard; to farce.

Derived terms

• forcemeat

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• Cofer, Corfe, corfe

French

Etymology

From Middle French force, from Old French force, from Late Latin or Vulgar Latin *fortia, re-analyzed as a feminine singular from the neuter plural of Latin fortis. Compare Catalan força, Portuguese força, Italian forza, Spanish fuerza.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f??s/
• Rhymes: -??s
• Homophones: forcent, forces

Noun

force f (plural forces)

1. force
2. strength

Synonyms

• pouvoir
• puissance
• violence

Derived terms

Adjective

force (invariable)

1. (archaic) Many; a lot of; a great quantity of.

Verb

force

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of forcer
2. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of forcer
3. second-person singular imperative of forcer

Further reading

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

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French force.

Noun

force f (plural forces)

1. force (physical effort; physical might)

Descendants

• French: force

Old French

Alternative forms

• forche (Picardy, Old Northern French)
• fors

Etymology

From Late Latin or Vulgar Latin *fortia, re-analyzed as a feminine singular from the neuter plural of Latin fortis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?f?r.t?s?/

Noun

force f (oblique plural forces, nominative singular force, nominative plural forces)

1. strength; might

Related terms

• esforcer
• esfort
• fort
• forteresce

Descendants

• Middle French: force
  • French: force
• Walloon: foice
• ? Middle English: force / fors / forse
  • English: force

Portuguese

Verb

force

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of forçar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of forçar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of forçar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of forçar

English

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /?li?.v?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?li?.v?/,

  Hyphenation: lever

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?l?.v?/, /?li?.v?/

  Hyphenation: le?ver, Hyphenation: lev?er

• Rhymes: -?v?(?), -i?v?(?)
• Homophones: leaver, Lever (for the pronunciation /?li?v?(?)/)

Etymology 1

From Middle English lever, levore, levour, from Old French leveor, leveur (“a lifter, lever (also Old French and French levier)”), from Latin lev?tor (“a lifter”), from lev? (“to raise”); see levant. Compare alleviate, elevate, leaven.

Noun

lever (plural levers)

1. (obsolete, except in generalized senses below) A crowbar.
   • 1613, John Marston, William Barksted, The Insatiate Countess, IV.1:

     My lord, I brained him with a lever my neighbour lent me, and he stood by and cried, ‘Strike home, old boy!’

2. (mechanics) A rigid piece which is capable of turning about one point, or axis (the fulcrum), and in which are two or more other points where forces are applied; — used for transmitting and modifying force and motion.
   1. Specifically, a bar of metal, wood or other rigid substance, used to exert a pressure, or sustain a weight, at one point of its length, by receiving a force or power at a second, and turning at a third on a fixed point called a fulcrum. It is usually named as the first of the six mechanical powers, and is of three kinds, according as either the fulcrum F, the weight W, or the power P, respectively, is situated between the other two, as in the figures.
3. A small such piece to trigger or control a mechanical device (like a button).
4. (mechanics) A bar, as a capstan bar, applied to a rotatory piece to turn it.
5. (mechanics) An arm on a rock shaft, to give motion to the shaft or to obtain motion from it.

Translations

Verb

lever (third-person singular simple present levers, present participle levering, simple past and past participle levered)

1. (transitive) To move with a lever.
2. (figuratively, transitive) To use, operate or move (something) like a lever (physically).
   • 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, Vintage International, 2001, Part Two, Chapter 1,

     Suddenly he had levered himself up from the sofa, rocking the lame man violently, and was walking towards the receptionist.

3. (figuratively, transitive) To use (something) like a lever (in an abstract sense).
   • 2001, Joshua Cooper Ramo, “Bagging the Butcher,” Time, 9 April, 2001,^[3]

     He was a man who levered his way from small-time communist hack to political power by tapping into the most potent vein of historical juice in the Balkans: nationalism.

   • 2013, Robert McCrum, “Biographies of the year — review,” The Guardian, 8 December, 2013,^[4]

     Credited with pioneering the detective novel, Collins has attracted many biographers over the years, drawn to his extraordinary life and work in the hope of levering open a new understanding of the Victorian psyche.

4. (chiefly Britain, finance) To increase the share of debt in the capitalization of a business.

Translations

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From Middle English lever, comparative of leve, leef (“dear, beloved, lief”), equivalent to lief +? -er. Related to German lieber (“rather”).

Alternative forms

• liever

Adverb

lever (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Rather.
   • 1530, John Heywood, The Four PP

     for I had lever be without ye / Then have suche besines about ye

   • 1537, William Tyndale et al, "Jonah", in The Byble

     Now therefore take my life from me, for I had lever die then live.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faery Queene

     For lever had I die than see his deadly face.

Translations

Etymology 3

Borrowed from French lever.

Noun

lever (plural levers)

1. (rare) A levee.
   • 1742, Miss Robinson, Mrs. Delany's Letters, II.191:

     We do not appear at Phœbus's Levér.

   • 2011, Tim Blanning, "The reinvention of the night", Times Literary Supplement, 21 Sep 2011:

     Louis XIV’s day began with a lever at 9 and ended (officially) at around midnight.

Further reading

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

References

Anagrams

• Revel, elver, revel

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Danish liuær, from Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *libr?, cognate with English liver and German Leber. The Germanic word may be an irregular remodelling of the Proto-Indo-European word for "liver", *yók?r?, cf. Ancient Greek ???? (hêpar) and Latin iecur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?lew??]

Noun

lever c (singular definite leveren, plural indefinite levere)

1. liver

Inflection

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?le???], [?le?w?]

Verb

lever

1. present of leve

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [le??e???]

Verb

lever or levér

1. imperative of levere

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?le?v?r/
• Hyphenation: le?ver
• Rhymes: -e?v?r

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch l?vere, from Old Dutch *levara, from Proto-Germanic *libr?.

Noun

lever f (plural levers, diminutive levertje n)

1. liver
2. edible animal liver as a dish or culinary ingredient

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: lewer
• ? Indonesian: lever

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

lever

1. first-person singular present indicative of leveren
2. imperative of leveren

French

Etymology

From Middle French lever, from Old French lever, from Latin lev?re, present active infinitive of lev? (“to elevate”), from levis (“light, not heavy”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?.ve/
• Homophones: levai, levé, levée, levées, levés, levez

Verb

lever

1. (transitive) To raise, lift.

   Antonym: baisser

2. (reflexive) To rise, stand up.

   Antonym: s'abaisser

3. (reflexive) To get up (out of bed).

   Antonyms: se coucher, s'allonger

4. (reflexive, of fog, rain and etc) To clear, lift.

Conjugation

This verb is conjugated mostly like the regular -er verbs (parler and chanter and so on), but the -e- /?/ of the second-to-last syllable becomes -è- /?/ when the next vowel is a silent or schwa -e-. For example, in the third-person singular present indicative, we have il lève rather than *il leve. Other verbs conjugated this way include acheter and mener. Related but distinct conjugations include those of appeler and préférer.

Derived terms

Noun

lever m (plural levers)

1. The act of getting up in the morning.

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• lèvre

Hungarian

Etymology

le- +? ver

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?l?v?r]
• Hyphenation: le?ver
• Rhymes: -?r

Verb

lever

1. (transitive) to knock down

Conjugation

Derived terms

• leverés

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch lever (“liver”), from Middle Dutch l?vere, from Old Dutch *levara, from Proto-Germanic *libr?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?l?v?r]
• Hyphenation: lè?vêr

Noun

lèvêr (first-person possessive leverku, second-person possessive levermu, third-person possessive levernya)

1. liver.

   Synonym: hati

Alternative forms

• liver

Further reading

• “lever” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Latin

Verb

l?ver

1. first-person singular present passive subjunctive of l?v?

Middle English

Etymology

Comparative of leve (“dear”) of Germanic origin (compare German lieb) or lief.

Adverb

lever

1. Rather.

   For him was lever have at his bed's head
   Twenty bookes, clad in black or red,
   . . . Than robes rich, or fithel, or gay sawtrie. —The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer

   But lever than this worldés good
   She would have wist how that it stood —Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins, John Gower.

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French lever.

Verb

lever

1. to lift

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Descendants

• French: lever

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (lever, supplement)

Norwegian Bokmål

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *libr?, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smudge, stick”), from *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”).

Noun

lever m or f (definite singular leveren or levra, indefinite plural levere or levre or levrer, definite plural leverne or levrene)

1. (anatomy) a liver
2. liver (eaten as food)

Derived terms

• skrumplever

Etymology 2

Verb

lever

1. present tense of leve
2. imperative of levere

References

• “lever” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *libr?, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smudge, stick”), from *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”). Akin to English liver.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?le???r/ (example of pronunciation)

Noun

lever f (definite singular levra, indefinite plural levrar or levrer, definite plural levrane or levrene)

1. (anatomy) a liver
2. liver (eaten as food)

Alternative forms

• (superseded) livr

Derived terms

• skrumplever

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²le???r/ (example of pronunciation)

Verb

lever

1. present of leve

Further reading

• “lever” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin l?v?re, present active infinitive of l?v?.

Verb

lever

1. to lift (up)
2. (reflexive, se level) to get up (get out of bed)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a first-group verb ending in -er. The forms that would normally end in *-v, *-vs, *-vt are modified to f, s, t. This verb has a stressed present stem liev distinct from the unstressed stem lev. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Descendants

• Middle French: lever
  • French: lever

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse hleifr, from Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz.

Noun

l?ver m

1. loaf, bread

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: lev

Swedish

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Norse lifr, from Proto-Germanic *libr?, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smudge, stick”), from *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”).

Noun

lever c

1. (anatomy) a liver

Declension

Etymology 2

Verb

lever

1. present tense of leva.

Further reading

• lever in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• lever in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• lever in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)