Etymograph

English

compulsory

Compulsory comes from Latin compulsus ‘compelled’, from pellō ‘to push, drive, hurl, impel, propel’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱóm1‘beside, near, by, with’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kom1‘with, along, at’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kom-1‘together’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnō1‘to approach’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellō1‘to push, drive, hurl, impel, propel’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompellō1
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompulsus2‘compelled’
  8. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcompulsorius2
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1827compulsory2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin compulsus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English compulsory
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1827, A. D. Jr., Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal: “They are entirely private concerns, established by individual teachers,…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱómWiktionary, Latin compulsus‘beside, near, by, with’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*komWiktionary, Latin compulsus‘with, along, at’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kom-Wiktionary, Latin compulsus‘together’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnōWiktionary, Latin compulsus‘to approach’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellōWiktionary, Latin compulsus‘to push, drive, hurl, impel, propel’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompellōWiktionary, Latin compulsus
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompulsusWiktionary, English compulsory‘compelled’
  8. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcompulsoriusWiktionary, English compulsory
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1827compulsoryWiktionary, English compulsory. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1827, A. D. Jr., Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal: “They are entirely private concerns, established by individual teachers,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱe ‘Deictic particle, here’

here, 14 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’

among, gain, comply, hind, likeness, kata, limbed, 31 more

through Proto-Italic *kom ‘with, along, at’

consideration, cum, cue, 14 more

through Proto-Italic *kom- ‘together’

conference, consider, competition, counter, consistent, concrete, con, commodity, contra, concierge, connotation, condiment, condescend, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *pelnō ‘to approach’

impulse, repellent, repulse, 11 more

through Latin pellō ‘to push, drive, hurl, impel, propel’

appeal, repeal, pulse, appellate, expel, repel, propel, dispel, propulsion, expulsion, pelt, compel, rappel, impel, 17 more

Today it means

adj Required; obligatory; mandatory.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “compulsory”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin compulsus. 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 *ḱóm / compulsory

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