restraint

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English restreinte,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman restreinte and Middle French restrainte,^[5][6][4] the feminine past participle, used as a noun, of restraindre, also restreindre (“to hold back”), the source of restrain.^{[3][2][7][8][9]} In French the noun had meant the act of binding or constricting (1240, in medical use), a restraining order (1306), and restriction or limitation (14th century);^[5] the Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1348 in the sense of restriction.^[10] The French verb comes from Latin restringō (“to draw back tightly, tie back; confine, check”),^[3] the source of restrict and restriction.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An ordinance or injunction imposing a restriction: 1439–40, in the Rolls of Parliament of Henry VI.^[5] Etymonline dates the noun to the early 15th century, as the action of holding back and as a check or hindrance.^[3] Dictionary.com places it as early as 1350–1400.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense of a restricting order died out by the late 18th century,^[5] while the action of restraining or checking something, recorded from 1443, became the core meaning.^[5][3] An embargo forbidding a ship to leave port was a restraint from 1449, later more fully a restraint of princes.^[5] The word was applied to a person's own conduct from 1509, as self-control or moderation, and later to coolness or reserve of manner;^[5] Etymonline dates the sense of reserve and the avoidance of extravagance in manner or style to about 1600.^[3] The loss of liberty, confinement or imprisonment, is recorded before 1547 in the Earl of Surrey, often in the phrase under restraint,^[5] and Johnson (1755) put "abridgement of liberty" first.^[11] A device that restricts the movement of the body is recorded from 1650,^[5] and the restraint of violent prisoners or patients in asylums from 1829.^[5][3] The legal phrase restraint of trade is recorded from 1622 in the OED;^[5] Etymonline dates it to the 1630s.^[3] An adjective restraint, restrained or restricted, borrowed from the French past participle, was used from 1445 to 1591.^[5]

Timeline

• 1439 – an ordinance imposing a restriction (obsolete by 1786).^[5]
• 1443 – the action of restraining or checking;^[5] without restraint, freely.^[5]
• 1449 – an embargo on a ship or cargo.^[5]
• 1509 – self-control, moderation.^[5]
• 1523 – a restraining force or influence.^[5]
• before 1547 – confinement, imprisonment.^[5]
• 1566 – restriction, limitation.^[5]
• 1622 – restraint of trade.^[5]
• 1650 – a device restricting the movement of the body.^[5]
• 1829 – the restraint of violent or mentally ill people.^[5][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Self-control or moderation in one's feelings, behaviour or expression: The referee showed admirable restraint when the players argued.^[12][5]
2. The act of restraining, checking or holding back, or the state of being restrained.^[12][6][5]
3. Something that restrains or limits; a restriction or check: restraints on public spending.^[12][6][5]
4. Loss or limitation of a person's liberty; confinement: The suspect was kept under restraint.^[6][5]
5. A device that limits movement of the body, such as a strap or a seat belt.^[6][5]
6. restraint of trade (law): action that interferes with free competition in a market.^[5][6]

Word family

• nonrestraint
• unrestraint
• self-restraint
• child restraint
• passive restraint
• prior restraint
• restraint of trade
• head restraint

Related words

• constraint
• restrain
• restrict

Usage notes

Etymonline quotes Locke's distinction: when an action is contrary to the preference of the mind it is compulsion, and when the hindering or stopping of an action is contrary to one's will it is restraint.^[3]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins