Duress, n.
Etymology: [OF. duresse, du, hardship, severity, L. duritia, durities, fr. durus hard. See Dure.]
1. Hardship; constraint; pressure; imprisonment; restraint of liberty. The agreements . . . made with the landlords during the time of slavery, are only the effect of duress and force. Burke.
2. (Law)
The state of compulsion or necessity in which a person is influenced, whether by the unlawful restrain of his liberty or by actual or threatened physical violence, to incur a civil liability or to commit an offense.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Duress, v. t.
To subject to duress. "The party duressed." Bacon.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for duress; he lists it under fetter.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.