strainer

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English streinour, also streingnour and strainoure,^[2][3] formed from English strain + -er.^[4][3][5][2] The OED adds that the early forms suggest there may also have been Anglo-Norman *estreignour, from the stem of the verb in that language.^[4] The Middle English verb, streinen, is from Old French estreindre (“to bind tightly, clasp, squeeze”), from Latin stringō (“to draw tight, bind tight, press together”), which is reconstructed as from Proto-Indo-European *streig- (“to stroke, rub, press”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A device for filtering liquid or bolting flour: in the account rolls of Durham Abbey, in 1321 in the Middle English Dictionary ("In streignours emp.") and 1326 in the OED.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to the early 14th century.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The Durham accounts of 1326 and 1333–4 enter linen and canvas bought for strainers, and the word could also name the cloth itself, as in 1393.^[2] A Middle English Lanfranc from before 1400 speaks of liquid cooled through "a þinne streynour".^[2] In the 17th century the word was transferred to filtering processes in nature and to the figurative: Bacon (1626) applied it to natural structures and Laud (1621–31) used it figuratively,^[4] and Johnson (1755), who defined it as "an instrument of filtration", quoted Bacon on the passage of moisture in birds and Arbuthnot on the lacteal vessels.^[6] The use for a device that stretches or tightens is recorded from 1527;^[4][7] from it came the Australian and New Zealand strainer post.^[4][7] American dictionaries also record a tree in a river whose branches endanger boats and swimmers,^[8] and workers who strain paper coatings or break up scrap rubber.^[9]

Timeline

• 1321 – a device for filtering liquids, in the Durham accounts.^[2] The OED's first example is from the same rolls, 1326.^[4]
• 1393 – the cloth from which a strainer is made.^[2]
• 1527 – a device for stretching or tightening.^[4][7]
• 1621–31 – transferred and figurative use, in Laud.^[4]
• 1626 – a natural structure or process that filters, in Bacon.^[4]
• 1933 – New Zealand, a strainer post.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A utensil or device, such as a sieve or filter, that holds back solids while a liquid passes through: a tea strainer.^{[10][9][5][4]}
2. A person or thing that strains.^[9][5][7]
3. A device for stretching or tightening something.^[9][8][5][4]
4. A natural structure or process that filters.^[4][7]
5. A standing or fallen tree whose branches lie partly in a fast river, a danger to boats and swimmers.^[8]
6. A worker who strains paper-coating mixtures, or who operates a mill that clears scrap rubber of cord and fabric.^[9]
7. (Australia, New Zealand) A strainer post.^[7][4]

Related words

• strain
• stress

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
7. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press