duress
English
/djʊˈɹɛs/, /duˈɹɛs/
noun
Definitions
- (obsolete) Harsh treatment.
- Constraint by threat.
- (legal) Restraint in which a person is influenced, whether by lawful or unlawful forceful compulsion of their liberty by monition or implementation of physical enforcement; legally for the incurring of civil liability, of a citizen's arrest, or of subrogation, or illegally for the committing of an offense, of forcing a contract, or of using threats.
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French duresse derived from Latin duritia (hardness).
Origin
Latin
duritia
Gloss
hardness