perforce
verbEtymology From Middle English par force, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French par force (“by force”).
1
Obsolete To force; to compel.
perforce
advUK /pəˈfɔːs/ · US /pɚˈfɔɹs/
Etymology From Middle English par force, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French par force (“by force”).
1
By constraint of circumstances; of necessity; as a matter of course.
- Mr. Wickham's happiness and her own were perforce delayed a little longer, and Mr. Collins's proposal accepted with as good a grace as she could..1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 17, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:
- "Keep fast thy hold, for by such stairs as these," The Master said, panting as one fatigued, "Must we perforce depart from so much evil."1882, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Inferno, canto 34:
4 more examples
- So, bevelling around by Mullett's and the Signal House which they shortly reached, they proceeded perforce in the direction of Amiens street railway terminus1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
- Accordingly work perforce had to be begun. The first sod was cut at Anley, near Settle, in November, 1869, […]1939 July, John D. Hewitt, “Some Notable British Main Lines: 1. Settle and Carlisle, L.M.S.R.”, in Railway Magazine, page 35:
- It was by no means pleasant to realize that there was an unknown number of menaces up there over your head, quietly circling and circling until someone should arrange for them to drop - and that there was nothing to be done about them. Still, life has to go on - and novelty is a wonderfully short-lived thing. One became used to the idea perforce.1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 28:
- Adult immigrants must perforce learn some English, and their children are likely to become English monolinguals.2006, Alejandro Portes, Rubén G. Rumbaut, Immigrant America: A Portrait, 3rd edition, page 239:
2
Archaic By force.
- If ſhe denie, Lord Hastings goe with him, And from her iealous Armes pluck him perforce.c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:
- For you, most wicked sir, whom to call brother Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive Thy rankest fault; all of them; and require My dukedom of thee, which, perforce, I know Thou must restore.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]: