astreindre

Forms

astreindre^[1] Old French astraindre, with forms such as astrent and astraindons; the spelling astreindre is fixed in 1355.^[2][3][4] The Anglo-Norman forms include astraindre, astreyndre and astrict.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French astraindre,^[1][2] inherited from Latin astringō (“to bind, tie up, oblige”),^[2][3][6][7] formed from ad- and stringō (“to draw tight, squeeze”), which also gave étreindre.^[2][8] Its Old French forms such as astrent and astraindons follow the verbs in ⟨-aindre⟩.^[2][4]

Bloch and Wartburg treat it instead as borrowed from Latin, keeping the ⟨a⟩ of the prefix under the influence of written Latin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded at the end of the 12th century;^[2][3] the Old French Job has Nos nos astraindrons par fort estude “we shall bind ourselves by hard study”.^[8] The Anglo-Norman verb of the late 12th century already meant “to constrain, oblige” and “to harass”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The verb kept the figurative senses of the Latin, “to compel, to subject to hard obligations”, and the reflexive s'astreindre à is as old as the transitive.^[2] In the 14th century Bersuire uses it of being bound by an oath, and in the 15th Froissart of troops durement astreins “hard pressed” in a siege.^[8] The old physical sense “to bind tightly” is now dated.^[9]

Its past participle became the noun astreinte (1875), in law a daily fine for late performance and in the 20th century a strict obligation; the adjective astreignant is first found in 1869, in the Goncourts.^[2]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – First recorded as astraindre.^[2][3]
• 1355 – The spelling astreindre is fixed.^[2][3]
• 1869 – Astreignant appears in the Goncourts.^[2]
• 1875 – The noun astreinte in law.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To compel someone strictly to something or to do something: on l'astreint à un horaire fixe.^[10][6]
2. (reflexive, s'astreindre à) To force oneself to something, to keep to a discipline: elle s'astreint à courir chaque matin.^[10][8]
3. (dated) To bind tightly.^[9]

Word family

• astreinte
• astreignant

Related words

• étreindre
• astringent
• Latin astringō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
6. ^ a b Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 619b
8. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert