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Origin and history of restrict

restrict(v.)

1530s, "to limit, bound, confine (someone or something), prevent from passing a certain limit in any kind of action," from Latin restrictus, past participle of restringere "bind fast, restrain" (see restriction). Regarded 18c. as a Scotticism. Related: Restricted; restricting.

also from 1530s

Entries linking to restrict

restricted(adj.)

"limited, confined," 1830, past-participle adjective from restrict. Of government documents, etc., "secret, not for public release" it is recorded from 1944. Related: Restrictedly. The older adjective was simply restrict. In mid-20c. U.S., restricted was a euphemism for "off-limits to Jews" (1947).

Manager: "I'm sorry, Mr. Marx, but we can't let you use the pool; this country club is restricted."
Groucho: "Well, my daughter's only half-Jewish; could she go in up to her knees?" [there are many versions and variations of this story in print, some referencing a son instead, dating to his obituaries in 1977]
restriction(n.)

early 15c., restriccioun, "a cessation, the property of staunching bleeding," from Old French restriction (14c.) and directly from Late Latin restrictionem (nominative restrictio) "limitation," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin restringere "restrict, bind fast, restrain," from re- "back" (see re-) + stringere "draw tight" (see strain (v.)). General sense of "that which restricts" is by early 15c. Meaning "act, process, or fact of restricting; state of being restricted" is from 1620s.

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    trammel
    mid-14c., "net to catch fish" (implied in trammeller "one who fishes with a trammel net"), from Old French tramail "fine-gauged fishnet" (13c.), from Late Latin tremaculum, perhaps meaning "a net made from three layers of meshes," from Latin tri- "three" (see tri-) + macula "a me
    limit
    c. 1400, "boundary, frontier," from Old French limite "a boundary," from Latin limitem (nominative limes) "a boundary, limit, border, embankment between fields," which is probably related to limen "threshold," and possibly from the base of limus "transverse, oblique," which is of
    bound
    "to leap, spring upward, jump," 1590s, from French bondir "to rebound, resound, echo," from Old French bondir "to leap, jump, rebound;" originally "make a noise, sound (a horn), beat (a drum)," 13c., ultimately "to echo back," from Vulgar Latin *bombitire "to buzz, hum" (see bomb
    derogatory
    derogatorius, from Latin derogatus, past participle of derogare "to take away, detract from, diminish," also "repeal partly, restrict...
    derogate
    obsolete, from Latin derogatus, past participle of derogare "to take away, detract from, diminish," also "repeal partly, restrict...
    constraint
    Meaning "coercion, compulsion, irresistible force or its effect to restrict or compel" is from 1530s....
    restrain
    That which we restrain we keep within limits; that which we restrict we keep within certain definite limits; that which we...
    circumscribe
    late 14c., "to encompass; confine, restrain, mark out bounds or limits for," from Latin circumscribere "to make a circle around, encircle, draw a line around; limit, restrain, confine, set the boundaries of," from circum "around, round about" (see circum-) + scribere "to write" (
    modify
    late 14c., modifien, "alter, amend, adjust, change the properties, form, or function of;" also "set limits, keep within the bounds of reason; choose a middle course," from Old French modifier (14c.), from Latin modificare "to limit, measure off, restrain," from modus "measure, ma
    inhibit
    early 15c., "to forbid, prohibit," back-formation from inhibition or else from Latin inhibitus, past participle of inhibere "to hold in, hold back, keep back," from in- "in, on" (from PIE root *en "in") + habere "to hold" (from PIE root *ghabh- "to give or receive"). Psychologica

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