a. (and sb.). [as if ad. L. *coercitīv-us, f. coercit- ppl. stem of coercēre to COERCE. Cf. F. coercitif.]
1. = COERCIVE 1. ? Obs.
1632. C. Downing, State Eccles. Kingd. (1634), 41. That jurisdiction whereby hee doth exercise … his corrective, coercitive, coactive power.
1642. Jer. Taylor, Episc. (1647), 39. If he had not had coercitive jurisdiction to have punish’t his delinquency. Ibid. (1660), Duct. Dubit., III. ii. § 1. Without a coercitive power there can be no government.
2. Coercitive force: see COERCIVE 4.
1864. in Webster.
1870. R. Ferguson, Electr., 7. Steel … has a force which, in the first instance, resists the assumption of magnetism; and, when assumed, resists its withdrawal. This is called the coercitive force.
1879. G. Prescott, Sp. Telephone, 122. The transmission of the discontinuous current produces sound … in different degrees for each, depending on the coercitive force that opposes the phenomenon.
† B. quasi-sb. = COERCIVE B. Obs. rare.
1651. Jer. Taylor, Serm., i. (1850), 7. Of these as man can take no cognizance, so he can make no coercitive.
