noun
Meaning 1
An overwhelming force.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Phrase guide
force majeure
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ˌfɔːs mæˈʒɜː/
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Received-Pronunciation: /-mə-/
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Received-Pronunciation: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: /ˌfoɹs mɑˈʒɜɹ/
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rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)
noun
Meaning 2
An unavoidable circumstance, especially one that prevents someone from fulfilling a legal (usually contractual) obligation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
Topics: law
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
a natural and unavoidable catastrophe that interrupts the expected course of events
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- he discovered that his house was not insured against acts of God
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: act of God, vis major, inevitable accident, unavoidable casualty
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysm
History
Etymology
PIE word *méǵh2s Borrowed from French force majeure (“an exceptionally strong or superior force; (law) an unavoidable circumstance that prevents someone from fulfilling a legal obligation”), from force (“a force”) (ultimately from Latin fortis (“powerful, strong”)) + majeure (the feminine singular of majeur (“of great importance, major”), ultimately from Latin maior (“greater; large”),).
Across languages
Translations
67 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Chinese Mandarin: 不可抗力 (bùkěkànglì) — overwhelming force
- Dutch: oppermacht — overwhelming force
- Dutch: overmacht — overwhelming force
- Finnish: päätekijä — overwhelming force
- French: force majeure — overwhelming force
- Indonesian: keadaan kahar — overwhelming force
- Japanese: 不可抗力 (fukakōryoku) — overwhelming force
- Korean: 불가항력 (bulgahangnyeok) — overwhelming force
- Pannonian Rusyn: висша сила (visša sila) — overwhelming force
- Polish: siła wyższa — overwhelming force
- Portuguese: força maior — overwhelming force
- Russian: непреодоли́мая си́ла (nepreodolímaja síla) — overwhelming force
- Slovene: višja sila — overwhelming force
- Welsh: gorfodaeth — overwhelming force
- Arabic: قوة قاهرة — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Armenian: անհաղթահարելի ուժ (anhaġtʻahareli už) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Azerbaijani: fors-major — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Basque: ezinbesteko kasu — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Catalan: força major — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Catalan: causa major — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Chinese Mandarin: 不可抗力 (bùkěkànglì) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Czech: vyšší moc — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Danish: force majeure — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Dutch: overmacht — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Dutch: toeval — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Estonian: vääramatu jõud — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Finnish: force majeure — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Finnish: ylivoimainen este — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- French: force majeure — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- French: cas fortuit — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Georgian: ფორს-მაჟორი (pors-mažori) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- German: höhere Gewalt — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Greek: ανωτέρα βία (anotéra vía) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Hebrew: כוח עליון — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Indonesian: force majeure — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Indonesian: keadaan kahar — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Indonesian: keadaan memaksa — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Italian: forza maggiore — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Italian: caso fortuito — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Japanese: 不可抗力 (fukakōryoku) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Kashubian: namienienié — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Kazakh: форс-мажор (fors-major) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Korean: 불가항력 (bulgahangnyeok) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Central Kurdish: هێزى هەرەزاڵ — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Kyrgyz: форс-мажор (fors-major) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Kyrgyz: аргасыз жагдай (argasız jagday) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Latin: vīs maior — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Limburgish: force majeure — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Limburgish: övermach — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Lithuanian: nenugalima jėga — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Norwegian Bokmål: force majeure — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Persian: فرس ماژور (fors-mâžor) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Polish: siła wyższa — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Portuguese: força maior — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Russian: форс-мажо́р (fors-mažór) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Sindhi: اوچتي صورتحال (octe ṣortḥāl) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Spanish: fuerza mayor — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Spanish: caso fortuito — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Swedish: force majeure — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Tagalog: force majeure — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Tatar: форс-мажор (fors-major) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Turkish: fors majör — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Turkish: mücbir sebep — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Ukrainian: форс-мажо́р (fors-mažór) — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Vietnamese: bất khả kháng — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Welsh: force majeure — (law) unavoidable circumstance
- Welsh: gorfodaeth — (law) unavoidable circumstance