Etymologically
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restrictive

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Pronunciation

  • /ɹɪˈstɹɪktɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English restrictif,[2] borrowed from Middle French restrictif and directly borrowed from Medieval Latin restrictīvus (“tending to stop the flow of body fluids”).[3][4][5][6][7] In French the noun is recorded from 1377 for a medicine that stops the flow of body fluids, the adjective in that sense from the 15th century, and in the sense "that restrains, limits" from 1513;[3] the Medieval Latin adjective is found in a 13th-century British source and in Guy de Chauliac in 1363.[3] It is formed on restrictus, the past participle of restringō (“to bind fast, restrain”),[3][5][6][7] with the suffix -īvus.[3] Compare Old Occitan restrictiu, Spanish restrictivo and Italian restrittivo.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In medicine, staunching bleeding or other loss of body fluids; styptic, astringent: before 1425, in an English translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.[3][5][2] The noun, a medicine that stops bleeding or diarrhoea, appears about 1425 in a translation of John Arderne's treatise on fistula.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

From the 1570s the word was applied to terms and expressions that imply a restriction or limitation:[5][3] the first record is in Gabriel Harvey's letter to Spenser in 1579.[3] The general sense, that restricts or limits, follows in 1580.[3] Johnson (1755) gave both "expressing limitation" and "styptic, astringent",[8] but the medical senses fell out of use in the late 18th century.[3][4] In grammar a restrictive clause or phrase limits the reference of the noun it modifies, as opposed to a nonrestrictive one.[9][6][3]

Timeline

  • 1363 – Medieval Latin restrictivus in Guy de Chauliac.[3]
  • 1377 – French restrictif, a medicine that stops the flow of body fluids.[3]
  • before 1425 – staunching bleeding, styptic (obsolete by 1795).[3]
  • c. 1425 – noun, a styptic medicine (obsolete by 1766).[3][2]
  • 1579 – expressing restriction or limitation.[3]
  • 1580 – that restricts, limiting.[3]
  • 1629 – noun, a restriction.[3]
  • 1642 – noun, a restrictive term in grammar.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Restricting or tending to restrict; limiting freedom or scope: restrictive rules on parking.[9][6][3]
  2. (grammar) Of a relative clause or other modifier, limiting the reference of the noun it qualifies, as who live nearby in Neighbours who live nearby helped.[9][6][3]
  3. (obsolete, before 1425–1795) Of a medicine, astringent or styptic.[3][6][4]

Noun

  1. (grammar) A restrictive word or expression.[6][3]

Word family

  • restrictively
  • restrictiveness
  • unrestrictive
  • nonrestrictive
  • restrictive covenant
  • restrictive clause

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins