English
afforce
Afforce comes from Old French afforcer, from Latin exfortiāre ‘strain, exert’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- ‘to rise, high, hill’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerǵʰ-1‘to rise, high, hill’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*forktis1‘strong, powerful’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEforctis1
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfortis2‘strong’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexfortiāre2‘strain, exert’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400afforcer2
- Englishtodayafforce2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin fortis
- 2 Wiktionary, English afforce
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰerǵʰ-Wiktionary, Latin fortis‘to rise, high, hill’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*forktisWiktionary, Latin fortis‘strong, powerful’reconstructed
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEforctisWiktionary, Latin fortis
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEfortisWiktionary, English afforce‘strong’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexfortiāreWiktionary, English afforce‘strain, exert’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400afforcerWiktionary, English afforce
- EnglishtodayafforceWiktionary, English afforce
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- ‘to rise, high, hill’
berry, borough, burgess, bourgeois, barrow, burglar, brie, burgh, brahmin, burg, brahmana, bergh, bourguignon, broch, borgo, 13 more
through Proto-Italic *forktis ‘strong, powerful’
through Old Latin forctis
fortitude, forte, fortification, fortify, fortis, 7 more
through Latin fortis ‘strong’
Today it means
verb To reinforce (a team etc.) with extra people
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “afforce”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin fortis. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- / afforce