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
- To make a great effort; to exert to the utmost.
- To injure a muscle or limb by overexertion.
- To stretch tightly or put under pressure.
- To pour through a sieve or filter.
Noun
- A force that stretches or puts pressure on something; tension.
- Mental or emotional pressure; stress.
- An injury caused by overstretching a muscle.
- (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
- A variety of an animal, plant or microorganism within a species: a new strain of flu.
- An inherited tendency or quality: a strain of madness.
- (literary) A line of descent; ancestry.
Related words
References
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press