duress - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: duress

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

du·ress

Audio Help [doo-res, dyoo-, door-is, dyoor-] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	compulsion by threat or force; coercion; constraint.

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

3.	forcible restraint, esp. imprisonment.

[Origin: 1275–1325; ME duresse < MF duresse, -esce, -ece < L dūritia hardness, harshness, oppression, equiv. to dūr(us) hard + -itia -ice

]

—Synonyms 1. intimidation, pressure, bullying, browbeating.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
duress

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

du·ress Audio Help (dŏŏ-rěs', dyŏŏ-) Pronunciation Key
n.

Constraint by threat; coercion: confessed under duress.
Law
1. Coercion illegally applied.
2. Forcible confinement.

[Middle English duresse, harshness, compulsion, from Old French durece, hardness, from Latin dūritia, from dūrus, hard; see deru- in Indo-European roots.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

duress
noun
compulsory force or threat; "confessed under duress"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Duress

Du"ress\, n. [OF. duresse, du?, hardship, severity, L. duritia, durities, fr. durus hard. See Dure.]

1. Hardship; constraint; pressure; imprisonment; restraint of liberty.

The agreements . . . made with the landlords during the time of slavery, are only the effect of duress and force. --Burke.

2. (Law) The state of compulsion or necessity in which a person is influenced, whether by the unlawful restrain of his liberty or by actual or threatened physical violence, to incur a civil liability or to commit an offense.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Duress

Du*ress"\, v. t. To subject to duress. "The party duressed." --Bacon.

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