strain

pronunciation

How to pronounce strain in British English: UK [streɪn] word uk audio image

How to pronounce strain in American English: US [streɪn] word us audio image

Noun:

(physics) deformation of a physical body under the action of applied forces
difficulty that causes worry or emotional tension
a succession of notes forming a distinctive sequence
(psychology) nervousness resulting from mental stress
a special variety of domesticated animals within a species
(biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups
a lineage or race of people
injury to a muscle (often caused by overuse); results in swelling and pain
pervading note of an utterance
an effortful attempt to attain a goal
an intense or violent exertion
the act of singing
Verb:

to exert much effort or energy
test the limits of
use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity
separate by passing through a sieve or other straining device to separate out coarser elements
make tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious
stretch or force to the limit
remove by passing through a filter
rub through a strainer or process in an electric blender
alter the shape of (something) by stress

Word Origin

strain: strain: English has two distinct words strain. The older, ‘line of ancestry’ [OE], denotes etymologically ‘something gained by accumulation’. It comes from the prehistoric base *streu- ‘pile up’, which was related to Latin struere ‘build’ (source of English destroy, structure, etc). In the Old English period the notion of ‘gaining something’ was extended metaphorically to ‘producing offspring’, which formed the jumping-off point for the word’s modern range of meanings. Strain ‘pull tight, wrench’ [13] was borrowed from estreign-, the stem form of Old French estreindre ‘pull tight, tie’.This in turn was descended from Latin stringere ‘pull tight, tie tight’ (source also of English strait, strict, and stringent [17] and of a host of derived forms such as constrain [14], prestige, restrain [14] and constrict, district, restrict, etc). Strain ‘tune’ [16] is assumed to be the same word, perhaps deriving ultimately from the notion of ‘stretching’ the strings of a musical instrument.=> construct, destroy, structure; constrain, constrict, district, prestige, restrain, restrict, strait, strict, stringent

strain (v.): c. 1300, "tie, bind, fasten, gird," from present participle stem of Old French estreindre "bind tightly, clasp, squeeze," from Latin stringere (2) "draw tight, bind tight, compress, press together," from PIE root *streig- "to stroke, rub, press" (cognates: Lithuanian stregti "congeal, freeze, become stiff;" Greek strangein "twist;" Old High German strician "mends nets;" Old English streccian "to stretch;" German stramm, Dutch stram "stiff"). From late 14c. as "tighten; make taut," also "exert oneself; overexert (a body part)," Sense of "press through a filter, put (a liquid) through a strainer" is from early 14c. (implied in strainer); that of "to stress beyond measure, carry too far, make a forced interpretation of" is from mid-15c. Related: Strained; straining.

strain (n.2): "line of descent, lineage, breed, ancestry," c. 1200, from Old English strion, streon "a gain, acquisition, treasure; a begetting, procreation," from Proto-Germanic *streu-nam- "to pile up," from PIE root *stere- "to spread, extend, stretch out" (see structure (n.)). Hence "race, stock, line" (early 14c.). Applied to animal species from c. 1600; usually involving fairly minor variations, but not distinct from breed (n.). Normal sound development would have yielded *streen, but the word was altered in late Middle English, apparently by influence of strain (n.1).

strain (n.1): "injury caused by straining," c. 1400, from strain (v.). The meaning "passage of music" (1570s) probably developed from a verbal sense of "to tighten" the voice, which originally was used in reference to the strings of a musical instrument (late 14c.).