Etymology

compulsive

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Today it means: Uncontrolled or reactive and irresistible. Full definition →

French compulsif ← Latin compulsus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcompulsus
  2. French · borrowed fromcompulsif
  3. English todaycompulsive

Borrowed from French compulsif, formed from Latin compulsus, past participle of compellere (“to compel”), from com- (“together”) + pellere (“to drive”).

Words from the same roots

Latincompulsus all →

compulsory

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.