refrain

refrain¹ hold back, abstain

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English refreinen, also refrenen and refrainen,^[5] borrowed from Anglo-Norman refreiner,^[6] also Old French refrener and refraigner, to restrain, repress,^[7][8][5] from Latin refrēnō (“to bridle, hold in with a bit, restrain”),^[9][7][8][1] which is formed from re- (“back”) and frēnum (“bridle”).^[9][8][10] The Latin noun is of uncertain origin:^[8][7] the American Heritage Dictionary derives it from frendō (“to grind”), from Proto-Indo-European *ghrendh- (“to grind”),^[9] while Etymonline reports de Vaan's connection with fretus (“relying on”).^[8] The French verb was later respelled réfréner, after Latin, but English kept the older form.^[8] The revised OED and Merriam-Webster Unabridged derive the English verb at least partly from Middle French refraindre (“to restrain, repress”), also refreindre, recorded in Old French from about 1150; the OED adds that it merged with refrener in Anglo-Norman.^[11][3] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the early 12th century, meaning to hold back, to curb and, used reflexively, to refrain from.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

To restrain or hold back a person or thing: before 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[11] Barnhart dates refreynen "to hold back or restrain" probably to about 1350,^[7][13] and Etymonline to the mid-14th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English the verb was chiefly transitive, meaning to hold back a person or thing, or to keep one's thoughts, desires and feelings in check.^[8][11] It could also mean to check the flow of a liquid, to temper a quality or to rein in a horse;^[5][11] Chaucer used it four times for "restrain, bridle".^[14] The reflexive use, to restrain oneself, is recorded from the late 14th century,^[8][11] and the intransitive sense "to stop oneself from doing something; forbear" from the early 15th century.^[11][8] This last use is now the usual sense, while the transitive ones are archaic or rare.^[11][3] Weekley saw the modern sense as a development of the earlier reflexive use.^[15] Johnson (1755) still defined it as "to hold back; to keep from action", quoting the Psalm "refrain not thyself".^[16] In Worcestershire dialect refrain meant to abstain from food, often shortened to 'frain.^[17] A noun refrain, restraint, was used in Scots from 1568 to 1579.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1350 – refreynen, to hold back or restrain (probably).^[7]
• before 1382 – to restrain or hold back a person or thing.^[11]
• c. 1384 – to repress one's desires or feelings.^[11]
• before 1387 – reflexive, to restrain oneself.^[11]
• before 1402 – intransitive, to stop oneself from doing something; forbear.^[11]
• 1440–1521 – to rein in a horse (obsolete).^[11]
• 1568–1579 – noun, restraint (obsolete).^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To keep oneself from doing something; to abstain or forbear, usually with from: Please refrain from talking during the film.^{[9][18][3][11]}
2. (archaic) To hold back or curb something: to refrain one's anger.^{[19][3][11][10]}

Word family

• refrainer
• refrainment
• unrefraining

refrain² chorus of a song

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English refrein, also refreyn,^[7][2][3] borrowed from Middle French refrain, also refrein, recorded in Old French from about 1300.^[11][3][2] Barnhart, Etymonline and Klein take the French noun as an alteration of Old French refrait, the noun use of the past participle of refraindre (“to break off; to repeat”),^{[7][8][2][20]} from Vulgar Latin *refrangō (“to break off”), an alteration of Latin refringō (“to break up, break open”) after frangō (“to break”).^[8][2][20] Klein explains the change of -t to -n by the influence of Old Occitan refranh (“singing of birds; refrain”),^[2][8] and the Shorter Oxford and Ayto derive the French word directly from that Old Occitan noun, from the verb refranher (“to repeat”).^[10][1] The OED allows both explanations, and notes that the Occitan word gave Catalan refrany, Spanish refrán and Portuguese refrão.^[11] The notion is of something that makes a song break off and then resume;^[1][8][2] refract comes from the same Latin verb.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A phrase or theme repeated again and again: before 1413, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, written about 1385.^[11][7]

Semantic evolution

From 1530, in Palsgrave, the word is recorded for the line or lines repeated in a poem or song, usually at the end of each verse.^[11] Cotgrave (1611) glossed the French phrase as "the refret, burthen, or downe of a ballade".^[15] The OED notes, as reported by Etymonline, that the word was not common before the 19th century.^[8] From 1795 it was also used of a repeated piece of music, and later of any melody or tune.^[11][9] The earliest sense, a phrase or theme often repeated, is now used especially of a comment or complaint that someone keeps making.^[11] French has this sense only from 1580.^[11]

Timeline

• c. 1385 – a repeated phrase or theme, in Chaucer.^[11][7]
• 1530 – the repeated lines of a poem or song.^[11]
• 1795 – a repeated piece of music; the music of a chorus.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A line or group of lines repeated at intervals in a song or poem, especially at the end of each stanza; a chorus.^{[9][3][11][10]}
2. The music for such lines; also, a song or melody.^[9][3][11]
3. A comment or complaint that is often repeated: Lack of money was the familiar refrain at every meeting.^[9][11]