Relating to or involving the use of force to compel or control; coercive (an archaic or variant form).
From Latin coercitivus, an older formation from coercere. This form is largely superseded by 'coercive' in modern English, though it appears in historical and technical texts.
This is basically an old-fashioned way of saying 'coercive'—it's like comparing 'oxidative' to an older 'oxiditive.' Scientific and legal vocabularies accumulated multiple forms over centuries, and usually one becomes standard while others fade into archives.
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