1690s, "to beat, slap;" 1775, "shut (a door, window, book, etc.) with force," from slam (n.1). The meaning "throw or push with force" is from 1870. The sense of "say uncomplimentary things about" is from 1916. Related: Slammed; slamming.
early 15c., impetous "rapid movement, rush;" 1640s, with modern spelling, "force with which a body moves, driving force," from Latin impetus "an attack, assault; rapid motion; an impulse; violence, vigor, force;" figuratively "ardor, passion," from impetere "to attack," from assimilated form of in- "into, in, on, upon" (from PIE root *en "in") + petere "aim for, rush at" (from PIE root *pet- "to rush, to fly").
"not spontaneous or voluntary, strained, unnatural," 1570s, past-participle adjective from force (v.). Meaning "effected by an unusual application of force" is from 1590s. Related: Forcedly. The flier's forced landing attested by 1917.
1690s in the scientific use in mechanics, "product of the mass and velocity of a body; quantity of motion of a moving body," from Latin momentum "movement, moving power" (see moment). Figurative use, "force gained by movement, an impulse, impelling force," dates from 1782.
1911, from Sanskrit hatha "force, violence, forced meditation" + yoga (see yoga).
"a putting in motion, communication of force," 1620s, noun of action from actuate (v.).
in physics, the metric unit of force, 1873, from a specialized scientific use of of Greek dynamis "power" (see dynamic (adj.)); perhaps also influenced by French dyne, which had been proposed c. 1842 as a unit of force in a different sense.
