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Duress

[doo-res, dyoo-, doo

r-is, dyoo

r-]

Example Sentences Origin

noun

compulsion by threat or force; coercion; constraint.

Law. such constraint or coercion as will render void a contract or other legal act entered or performed under its influence.

forcible restraint, especially imprisonment.

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English duresse < Middle French duresse, -esce, -ece < Latin dūritia hardness, harshness, oppression, equivalent to dūr(us) hard + -itia -ice

Synonyms
1. intimidation, pressure, bullying, browbeating.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Duress is always a great word to know.

So is abeyance. Does it mean:

a legal notice to a court or public officer to suspend a certain proceeding until the notifier is given a hearing

a state or condition of real property in which title is not as yet vested in a known titleholder

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Example Sentences

Cats often purr while under duress, such as during a visit to the veterinarian or when recovering from injury.

There had been no indication that the state's attorney had obtained their statements under duress.

He later recanted that statement, saying it was obtained under duress.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

duress (djʊˈrɛs, djʊə-)

—n
1.	compulsion by use of force or threat; constraint; coercion (often in the phrase under duress)
2.	law the illegal exercise of coercion
3.	confinement; imprisonment

[C14: from Old French duresse, from Latin dūritia hardness, from dūrus hard]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

duress

c.1320, "harsh or severe treatment," from O.Fr. duresse, from L. duritia "hardness," from durus "hard" (see endure). Sense of "forcible restraint" is from c.1430; that of "coercion" is from 1596.

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"Suppose someone has frequently flown in his dreams and finally becomes conscious of a power and an art of flying just as soon as he starts dreaming, as though it were his privilege, and also his most personal and enviable happiness: one who believes he can realize every sort of curve and angle with the lightest impulse, who knows the feeling of a certain divine frivolity, an "upwards" without tension or duress, a "downwards" without condescension and humiliation—without gravity! How could a man who enjoyed such dream-experiences and dream-habits fail to discover in the end that the word "happiness" was differently colored and defined in his waking hours as well? How could he fail to—desire happiness differently?"

-Friedrich Nietzsche

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Duress

du·ress