Etymologically
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refreno

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈfreː.noː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈfrɛː.no][1]

Forms

refrēnō (present infinitive refrēnāre, perfect active refrēnāvī, supine refrēnātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin re- + frēnō (“to bridle”), a verb from frēnum (“bridle”).[2][3][4] De Vaan traces frēnum to Proto-Italic *frēno- and Proto-Indo-European *dʰr-eh₁-no- (“holding”), linking it with frētus (“relying on”).[5] He finds Ernout and Meillet's derivation from the root of frendō (“to gnash”), as what horses chew on, possible but not straightforward.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Varro.[5][6] In his Menippean satires laughter is held back.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense, to rein in a horse, is in Curtius.[2][7] More often it is to hold back or curb things that move: Lucretius has the will reining in matter throughout the limbs, and Nepos checking an attack.[2] Cicero writes that youth must be curbed and restrained by everyone's efforts.[2] The elder Seneca has the spelling ⟨refraen-⟩,[2] and Lucretius scans the first syllable short five times.[3] Church Latin glosses it to check, restrain, refrain.[8] English refrain comes from it through Old French, from the mid-14th century.[4]

Timeline

  • 116–27 BC – Varro of holding back laughter.[2][5][6]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of the will reining in matter.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of curbing youth.[2][6]
  • 1st century AD – Curtius of reining in horses.[2][6]
  • mid-14th century – English refrain.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To rein in a horse.[2][7]
  2. To hold back, curb, check, restrain.[2][7][1][8]

Word family

  • refrēnātiō
  • refrēnus

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson