costringere Italian · revision 38275

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1243, Guido Faba|origins=la stringō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /kosˈtrin.d͡ʒe.re/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''costringere''' (first-person singular present costrìngo, first-person singular past historic costrìnsi, past participle costrétto, auxiliary avére)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had ''costrignere'' and ''constringere''.^(DEI)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|cōnstringō|t=to bind fast; to restrain]], formed with [[m|la|con-]] from [[m|la|stringō|t=to draw tight, bind]], the source of [[stringere]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) DELI and Zingarelli call it a learned word, while Wiktionary treats it as inherited.^(DELI 1999)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Wiktionary) DEI notes that the verb belongs to Italy and the western Romance area.^(DEI) The Latin verb also gave [[fr|contraindre]], [[pro|costrenher]] and [[pt|constranger]].^(REW 1935)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ The derivatives are learned too: [[costrizione]] is from [[la-lat|constrictiō]], [[costrittivo]] from [[m|la-lat|constrictīvus]] and [[costrittore]] from [[la-med|constrictor]].^(Nocentini 2010)^(DELI 1999) De Vaan thinks that Latin ⟨stringō⟩ merged the roots [[ine-pro|*strig-|t=to brush, strip]] and [[m|ine-pro|*strengh-|t=to draw, tie]], and the compounds continue the second.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the ''Parlamenti'' of Guido Faba (Bologna, about 1243), for making someone act against their will.^(TLIO) DELI's first records are in Bono Giamboni, before 1292, both for compelling someone by force or threats and for squeezing.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Giamboni writes that ''molte volte di notare è l'oste costretto per li fiumi'' (“the army is often forced to swim because of the rivers”).^(GDLI|3, 907) In Old Italian the verb also meant to hold someone at the mercy of hunger or pain, to punish, to gather people together, to besiege, to restrain, and in medicine to make blood clot.^(TLIO) Tommaseo describes it as stronger than ''astringere'': it puts a person in such straits that no other way out seems easier.^(Tommaseo–Bellini 1861)

+

+ The physical sense survives in literature, as in D'Annunzio's lines ''i muscoli ingenti / costringono l'ardua ossatura'' (“the huge muscles bind the steep frame of bone”).^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026) In everyday use the verb means to force or oblige, and the passive ''essere costretto a'' to have no choice.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1243 – Guido Faba's ''Parlamenti'' give the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * c. 1261 – Zingarelli's date for the first record.^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses the verb for “compel” and “squeeze”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1938 – Carlo Battisti uses the derivative ''costrittiva'' in phonetics.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|force]], to [[m|en|compel]] someone to act against their will: ''Lo hanno costretto a firmare con le minacce.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # To confine, to keep in a place: ''La febbre mi ha costretto in casa per tre giorni.''^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # ''(literary)'' To squeeze, to bind tightly.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(figurative, literary)'' To hold back, to restrain: to restrain one's tears or laughter.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[costrittiva]]

+ * [[costrittivo]]

+ * [[costrittore]]

+ * [[costrizione]]

+ * [[costretto]]

+ * [[costringersi]]

+ * [[costringimento]]

+ * [[ricostringere]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[stringere]]

+ * [[astringere]]

+ * [[la|cōnstringō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The reflexive ''costringersi a'' means to force oneself to do something.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}