Etymologically
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restrict

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Pronunciation

  • /ɹɪˈstɹɪkt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin restrictus (“bound fast, confined”),[2][3][4] the past participle of restringō (“to bind fast, draw back tightly, restrain”),[5][6] formed on stringō (“to draw tight”) with the prefix re- (“back”).[5][7] The American Heritage Dictionary traces stringō to Proto-Indo-European *streig-.[7] Barnhart thinks the verb was probably a back-formation from the older noun restriction, although some uses may come straight from Latin.[5] The same Latin verb, through French, gave restrain.[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

To keep a person or thing within limits, to confine: 1535, in David Lindsay's Satyre of the Thrie Estaitis.[4][3][5] Etymonline dates it to the 1530s.[2] An older adjective restrict, used as a past participle of blood that has been staunched, is found ?a1425 in a translation of Guy de Chauliac.[4][9]

Semantic evolution

The verb was at first chiefly Scottish; the OED finds English examples from the second half of the 16th century, but in the late 18th century it was still regarded as a Scotticism.[4][2] Johnson (1755) entered it with the comment "a word scarce English".[10] From 1766 it was used with from, to prevent someone from doing something.[4] A rare sense "to tie up" (1824) did not last.[4] Today it is an ordinary word, often followed by to for the limits set.[8]

Timeline

  • ?a1425 – the adjective restrict, of blood: staunched.[4]
  • 1535 – to limit or confine, in Scots.[4][3]
  • 1755 – Johnson calls it a word scarce English.[10]
  • 1766 – to prevent from doing something.[4]
  • late 18th century – still regarded as Scottish.[4][2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To keep something within set limits; to confine: The club restricts membership to local residents.
  2. To hold back the movement, activity or progress of someone or something.
  3. To reduce or control the amount, range or use of something.

Word family

  • restrictor
  • restricter
  • derestrict
  • overrestrict
  • restrictive

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.