coercer

English

Etymology

From coerce +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /koʊˈɝsɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kəʊˈɜːsə/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)sə(ɹ)

Noun

coercer (plural coercers)

1. A person who coerces.
   • 1825, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, On the Prometheus of Aeschylus:

     Jove the binder of reluctant powers, the coercer and entrancer of free spirits under the fetters of shape and mass and passive mobility […]

Antonyms

• coercee

Related terms

• coerce
• coercible
• coercion

French

Etymology

From Latin coercere (“to surround, encompass, restrain, control, curb”), from co- (“together”) + arcere (“to inclose, confine, keep off”); see arcade, arcane, ark.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.ɛʁ.se/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

coercer

1. to coerce, limit or restrict

Conjugation

This verb is part of a group of -er verbs for which 'c' is softened to a 'ç' before the vowels 'a' and 'o'.

Conjugation of coercer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	coercer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	coerçant /kɔ.ɛʁ.sɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		coercé /kɔ.ɛʁ.se/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	coerce /kɔ.ɛʁs/	coerces /kɔ.ɛʁs/	coerce /kɔ.ɛʁs/	coerçons /kɔ.ɛʁ.sɔ̃/	coercez /kɔ.ɛʁ.se/	coercent /kɔ.ɛʁs/
	imperfect	coerçais /kɔ.ɛʁ.sɛ/	coerçais /kɔ.ɛʁ.sɛ/	coerçait /kɔ.ɛʁ.sɛ/	coercions /kɔ.ɛʁ.sjɔ̃/	coerciez /kɔ.ɛʁ.sje/	coerçaient /kɔ.ɛʁ.sɛ/
	past historic2	coerçai /kɔ.ɛʁ.se/	coerças /kɔ.ɛʁ.sa/	coerça /kɔ.ɛʁ.sa/	coerçâmes /kɔ.ɛʁ.sam/	coerçâtes /kɔ.ɛʁ.sat/	coercèrent /kɔ.ɛʁ.sɛʁ/
	future	coercerai /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁe/	coerceras /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁa/	coercera /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁa/	coercerons /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁɔ̃/	coercerez /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁe/	coerceront /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	coercerais /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/	coercerais /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/	coercerait /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/	coercerions /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁjɔ̃/	coerceriez /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁje/	coerceraient /kɔ.ɛʁ.sə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	coerce /kɔ.ɛʁs/	coerces /kɔ.ɛʁs/	coerce /kɔ.ɛʁs/	coercions /kɔ.ɛʁ.sjɔ̃/	coerciez /kɔ.ɛʁ.sje/	coercent /kɔ.ɛʁs/
	imperfect2	coerçasse /kɔ.ɛʁ.sas/	coerçasses /kɔ.ɛʁ.sas/	coerçât /kɔ.ɛʁ.sa/	coerçassions /kɔ.ɛʁ.sa.sjɔ̃/	coerçassiez /kɔ.ɛʁ.sa.sje/	coerçassent /kɔ.ɛʁ.sas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	coerce /kɔ.ɛʁs/	—	coerçons /kɔ.ɛʁ.sɔ̃/	coercez /kɔ.ɛʁ.se/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

• “coercer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Spanish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin coercere (“to surround, encompass, restrain, control, curb”), from co- (“together”) + arcere (“to inclose, confine, keep off”); see arcade, arcane, ark.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /koeɾˈθeɾ/ [ko.eɾˈθeɾ] (Equatorial Guinea, Spain)
• IPA^(key): /koeɾˈseɾ/ [ko.eɾˈseɾ] (Latin America, Philippines)
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: co‧er‧cer

Verb

coercer (first-person singular present coerzo, first-person singular preterite coercí, past participle coercido)

1. to coerce, limit or restrict

Conjugation

    Conjugation of coercer (c-z alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			coercer
gerund			coerciendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		coercido		coercida
		plural		coercidos		coercidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	coerzo	coercestú coercésvos	coerce	coercemos	coercéis	coercen
	imperfect	coercía	coercías	coercía	coercíamos	coercíais	coercían
	preterite	coercí	coerciste	coerció	coercimos	coercisteis	coercieron
	future	coerceré	coercerás	coercerá	coerceremos	coerceréis	coercerán
	conditional	coercería	coercerías	coercería	coerceríamos	coerceríais	coercerían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	coerza	coerzastú coerzásvos2	coerza	coerzamos	coerzáis	coerzan
	imperfect (ra)	coerciera	coercieras	coerciera	coerciéramos	coercierais	coercieran
	imperfect (se)	coerciese	coercieses	coerciese	coerciésemos	coercieseis	coerciesen
	future1	coerciere	coercieres	coerciere	coerciéremos	coerciereis	coercieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		coercetú coercévos	coerza	coerzamos	coerced	coerzan
	negative		no coerzas	no coerza	no coerzamos	no coerzáis	no coerzan

¹Rare; now chiefly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tuteo-form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of coercer (c-z alternation)

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive coercer	dative	coercerme	coercerte	coercerle, coercerse	coercernos	coerceros	coercerles, coercerse
	accusative	coercerme	coercerte	coercerlo, coercerla, coercerse	coercernos	coerceros	coercerlos, coercerlas, coercerse
with gerund coerciendo	dative	coerciéndome	coerciéndote	coerciéndole, coerciéndose	coerciéndonos	coerciéndoos	coerciéndoles, coerciéndose
	accusative	coerciéndome	coerciéndote	coerciéndolo, coerciéndola, coerciéndose	coerciéndonos	coerciéndoos	coerciéndolos, coerciéndolas, coerciéndose
with informal second-person singular tuteo imperative coerce	dative	coérceme	coércete	coércele	coércenos	not used	coérceles
	accusative	coérceme	coércete	coércelo, coércela	coércenos	not used	coércelos, coércelas
with informal second-person singular voseo imperative coercé	dative	coerceme	coercete	coercele	coercenos	not used	coerceles
	accusative	coerceme	coercete	coercelo, coercela	coercenos	not used	coercelos, coercelas
with formal second-person singular imperative coerza	dative	coérzame	not used	coérzale, coérzase	coérzanos	not used	coérzales
	accusative	coérzame	not used	coérzalo, coérzala, coérzase	coérzanos	not used	coérzalos, coérzalas
with first-person plural imperative coerzamos	dative	not used	coerzámoste	coerzámosle	coerzámonos	coerzámoos	coerzámosles
	accusative	not used	coerzámoste	coerzámoslo, coerzámosla	coerzámonos	coerzámoos	coerzámoslos, coerzámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative coerced	dative	coercedme	not used	coercedle	coercednos	coerceos	coercedles
	accusative	coercedme	not used	coercedlo, coercedla	coercednos	coerceos	coercedlos, coercedlas
with formal second-person plural imperative coerzan	dative	coérzanme	not used	coérzanle	coérzannos	not used	coérzanles, coérzanse
	accusative	coérzanme	not used	coérzanlo, coérzanla	coérzannos	not used	coérzanlos, coérzanlas, coérzanse

Derived terms

• coercible
• coerción

Further reading

• “coercer”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025