strain

English has two words spelled strain: to stretch or press, from Latin stringere, and a line of descent or breed, from Old English strēon.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /stɹeɪn/^[4]

strain¹ stretch; filter; effort

Etymology

It is Middle English streinen, borrowed from Old French estreindre (“to bind tightly, clasp, squeeze”),^[1][2][5] from Latin stringere (“to draw tight, bind”),^[1][2][6] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *streig- (“to stroke, rub, press”).^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

To tie, bind, draw tight, stretch: about 1300.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

To confine or restrain is an obsolete early 14th-century sense.^[2] To stretch to the utmost, to exert oneself, and to injure by overstretching are from the late 14th century.^[2] To press through a filter is from before 1325.^[1][2] To make a forced interpretation is from 1449.^[1] The noun, a filter, is from 1432; an injury to a muscle from the 1550s; and a deforming force from the 1580s.^[1][2] A passage of music (1570s) probably came from the tightening of the voice in singing, hence a tone or style (1620s).^[2] Strain and stress are paired by 1842 and come from the same Latin verb.^[2] Strain at a gnat echoes Matthew 23:24.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – to bind tight.^[1]
• before 1325 – to filter.^[1]
• late 14th century – to exert oneself.^[2]
• 1550s – a muscle strain.^[2]
• 1570s – a passage of music.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To make a great effort; to exert to the utmost.
2. To injure a muscle or limb by overexertion.
3. To stretch tightly or put under pressure.
4. To pour through a sieve or filter.

Noun

1. A force that stretches or puts pressure on something; tension.
2. Mental or emotional pressure; stress.
3. An injury caused by overstretching a muscle.
4. (often strains) A passage of music or poetry.

Word family

• strainer
• strained
• restrain
• constrain

strain² breed, line of descent

Etymology

It is Middle English strene, from Old English strēon (“gain, treasure; begetting”), strīon, a shortening of ġestrēon,^[1][2][3][5] from Proto-Germanic *streunam, to pile up,^[2] cognate with Old High German striunan, to gain, and Latin struere (“to pile, build”),^[1] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *streu- (“to spread, pile up”).^[2][1] The modern spelling, influenced by strain, to stretch, appears in the late 16th century.^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Gain or treasure: about 950 in the OED;^[7] offspring, line of descent, probably before 1200.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

A race, stock or line is from the 14th century.^[3][7] Of animal varieties it is from about 1600 (1607), usually of minor variations not distinct from a breed,^[2][1] and of microbes by 1897.^[2] A sort or kind, as an inherited character or tendency, is from the 1590s.^[2][3]

Timeline

• c. 950 – gain, treasure.^[7]
• c. 1200 – offspring.^[1]
• c. 1330 – a race, stock.^[7]
• 1607 – an animal breed.^[1]
• 1897 – a strain of microbes.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A variety of an animal, plant or microorganism within a species: a new strain of flu.
2. An inherited tendency or quality: a strain of madness.
3. (literary) A line of descent; ancestry.

Related words

• strew
• stress
• strict
• stringent
• constrict
• structure

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press