contrainte

Forms

contrainte f (plural contraintes)^[1] Old French controinte (1263); Middle French constrainte.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is from French contraint, the feminine past participle of contraindre used as a noun.^[2][3][4][1] The verb was earlier constreindre, soon constraindre, and is from Latin constringō (“to bind together, tighten”).^[5] The Latin verb is formed from com- and stringō (“to draw tight”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

According to the FEW, it is found in the 12th century for the act of forcing someone to act against his will.^[2][3][7] The first dated record the Trésor gives is sanz controinte “without constraint”, in a charter of 1263.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The noun followed the sense development of its verb.^[7] It has lost the physical sense of discomfort in clothes that are too tight, still in the Académie's dictionary of 1835 and 1878, and largely that of restraint or embarrassment, which survives in phrases such as sans contrainte.^[7][2] The main sense is now the act of forcing someone, and the obligation laid on him.^[7][8] In law it named an act by which someone is compelled, and contrainte par corps was imprisonment of a debtor to make him pay.^[9] In the plural it now often means the demands of a situation or a rule, as in les contraintes de la vie familiale;^[8] in physics it is a stress.^[1]

English constraint (late 14th century) comes from the Old French form constreinte.^[6]

Timeline

• 12th century – First use for the act of forcing someone, according to the FEW.^[2][7]
• 1263 – Sanz controinte appears in a charter.^[2]
• 14th century – Oresme and Machaut use contrainte.^[9]
• Late 14th century – English borrows the Old French word as constreinte.^[6]
• 1835 – The Académie records the sense “discomfort of tight clothes”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Coercion, force or pressure used on someone to make him act against his will, as in il a signé sous la contrainte.^[8][4]
2. A rule or obligation that must be followed, a constraint, as in la contrainte sociale or les contraintes d'un emploi du temps chargé.^[8][1]
3. Restraint, self-control, lack of ease in one's behaviour: sans contrainte.^[7][2]
4. (law) A writ of compulsion;^[9] contrainte par corps, formerly imprisonment for debt.^[9]
5. (physics) stress.^[1]

Related words

• contraindre
• contraint
• contraignant
• précontrainte
• étreindre
• Latin constringō
• English constraint

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette