restriction

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English restriccioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman restriction and Middle French restriction,^[5][6][7] as well as restrictiō (“limitation”),^[2][5][4] a noun of action from restrictus, the past participle of restringō (“to bind fast, restrain”),^[2][4][3] from re- (“back”) and stringō (“to draw tight”).^[2] The French word is recorded in Old French in 1314 as restrinction, in the senses "constriction, staunching of bleeding".^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In medicine, the stopping of bleeding: ?a1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie;^[5][2] the Shorter Oxford dates the word to late Middle English.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, something that limits action, a limiting condition, appears by the early 15th century,^[2] the OED's first quotation being from Hoccleve (a1450).^[5] The sense "the act or fact of restricting" followed in 1554,^[5] the 1620s in Etymonline.^[2] The medical senses, staunching of bleeding and constipation, were lost by the early 17th century,^[5] but restriction as a narrowing that blocks a flow of liquid or air survives (1580).^[5][8] Johnson (1755) gave "confinement; limitation".^[9] Later specialized uses include the deliberate limiting of industrial output (1852),^[5] the restriction of a function in mathematics (1949) and the limiting of a virus's host range in molecular biology (1962).^[5]

Timeline

• ?a1425 – the staunching of bleeding.^[5]
• a1450 – a limiting condition or regulation.^[5]
• 1554 – the act of restricting.^[5]
• 1580 – partial obstruction of a flow.^[5]
• 1607 – mental restriction, mental reservation.^[5]
• 1852 – limitation of industrial output.^[5]
• 1949 – (mathematics) the restriction of a function.^[5]
• 1962 – (molecular biology) host restriction of a virus.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A rule or condition that limits what can be done: The city lifted its restrictions on outdoor gatherings.
2. The act of restricting, or the state of being restricted.
3. (law) A limitation on the use or enjoyment of property, such as a covenant limiting how land may be used.
4. (mathematics) A condition that limits the possible values of a variable or the domain of a function; the function so limited.

Word family

• nonrestriction
• overrestriction
• restrictionism
• restriction enzyme

Related words

• restrict
• restrain
• restraint
• constriction
• strict
• stringent

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.