Enforce | Vocabulary | Khan Academy

Hey, how do you do wordsmiths? This video is about the word enforce.

Enforce is a verb. It means to make sure that a rule or law is followed. You might usually hear it in the context of enforcing a law. Right? If I drive too fast, local authorities can enforce the speed limit by issuing me a speeding ticket.

Now, the word origin here is kind of a violent one. This word comes from the old French "enforcier," which means to use force on someone or something. So, "en" means in or on. When it's "en," 99% of the time that means it has a French origin, and sometimes it'll appear as "em" too.

Force means strength or power. It ultimately comes from a Latin word "fortis," which just means strength. So, when you enforce, you're using your strength on someone.

Let's take 10 seconds to come up with some more English words that contain "en" or "em" and "force." I'll put on some music, and I'll meet you back here in 10 seconds. Right? Let's do it.

[Music]

All right, here's three I came up with.

Reinforce, which means to strengthen something—right? To put more force in it.

Um, encode, which means to make information secret or to give computerized instructions. A spy might carry an encoded letter, or I might convert a video file from one file type to another using an encoder program. Right? I'm putting it in or into code.

And embolden, which means to give someone confidence, right? Literally to put boldness in them. And I know it's "em" there, but "m" means the same thing as "n."

Let us use the force, as it were, and make some sentences. The Admiral enforced the law on his enemies, but he ignored the law for his friends. So, the Admiral made sure that his enemies had to follow the law, but not his friends.

There he is, signing a little decree.

The noun form of enforce is enforcement, which you're most likely to read or hear in the phrase law enforcement. Which is to say the police, sheriff's department, Department of Justice. Right? Law enforcement is empowered to enforce the law. They represent the power of the state to say things like, "Hey, it's against the law to hurt people." And if someone hurts people, the law has the power to stop them. Right? That's what it means to have enforcement powers.

Okay, you can learn anything. David out.