enforcement
- 1The act of compelling obedience to a law, rule, or obligation; compulsion.
Federal regulators stepped up enforcement of the new emissions standards last year.
Critics say the agency announces ambitious rules but rarely follows through with enforcement.
Similarpolicing, implementation, compulsion, imposition, application
Note
The word came into English from Old French enforcement, built on enforce with -ment, and its lasting partner was already in place early. Peter Martyr of Angleria, in 1555, pictures people living "without inforcement of lawes," spelled with in- rather than en-. That pairing is still the core pattern: the thing being enforced follows of, as in enforcement of the law, of a rule, of a standard.
- 2The action of giving force or effect to something, such as a contract, judgment, or right; the carrying of a measure into execution.
Enforcement of the arbitration award required a separate filing in federal court.
The statute leaves enforcement of these consumer protections to private lawsuits.
Similarexecution, implementation, application
- 3Something that compels, constrains, or gives force, authority, or effect; constraint or applied force.
Necessity proved stronger enforcement than any statute the council could have passed.
Trade sanctions were the treaty's only real enforcement, and every signatory knew it.
Similarcompulsion, constraint, force, coercion
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Origin
From Old French "enforcement," formed from "enforce" plus the suffix "-ment."