The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Compel \Com*pel"\, v. i.
   To make one yield or submit. "If she can not entreat, I can
   compel." --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Compel \Com*pel"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Compelled; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Compelling.] [L. compellere, compulsum, to drive
   together, to compel, urge; com- + pellere to drive: cf. OF.
   compellir. See Pulse.]
   1. To drive or urge with force, or irresistibly; to force; to
      constrain; to oblige; to necessitate, either by physical
      or moral force.
      [1913 Webster]

            Wolsey . . . compelled the people to pay up the
            whole subsidy at once.                --Hallam.
      [1913 Webster]

            And they compel one Simon . . . to bear his cross.
                                                  --Mark xv. 21.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To take by force or violence; to seize; to exact; to
      extort. [R.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Commissions, which compel from each
            The sixth part of his substance.      --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.
      [1913 Webster]

            Easy sleep their weary limbs compelled. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

            I compel all creatures to my will.    --Tennyson.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To gather or unite in a crowd or company. [A Latinism] "In
      one troop compelled." --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To call forth; to summon. [Obs.] --Chapman.
      [1913 Webster]

            She had this knight from far compelled. --Spenser.

   Syn: To force; constrain; oblige; necessitate; coerce. See
        Coerce.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

compel
    v 1: force somebody to do something; "We compel all students to
         fill out this form" [syn: compel, oblige, obligate]
    2: necessitate or exact; "the water shortage compels
       conservation"

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 January 2023):

COMpute ParallEL
Compel

    (Compel) The first single-assignment language.

   ["A Language Design for Concurrent Processes", L.G. Tesler et
   al, Proc SJCC 32:403-408, AFIPS (Spring 1968)].

   (1995-01-19)