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constrain: constrain: see strain
entrails: entrails: [13] Entrails means literally just ‘insides’ – and indeed there is an unbroken semantic undercurrent to the word from earliest times to the present day signifying exactly that (as in ‘entrails of the earth’). It comes ultimately from the Latin adjective interāneus ‘internal’, a derivative of the adverb and preposition inter ‘inside, among’. Its neuter plural form interānea came to be used as a noun, and at some point underwent a metamorphosis to medieval Latin intrālia ‘inner parts, intestines’. English acquired the word via Old French entrailles.
portrait: portrait: [16] Portrait was borrowed from French portrait, which originated as the past participle of the verb portraire ‘depict’ (source of English portray [14]). This was descended from Latin prōtrahere, a compound verb formed from the prefix prō- ‘forth’ and trahere ‘draw’ (source of English tractor). This originally meant ‘draw out, reveal’, and also ‘lengthen’ (it has given English protract [16]), but in medieval Latin it came to be used for ‘depict’.
=> portray, protract, tractor
restrain: restrain: see strain
straight: straight: [14] Straight began life as the past participle of stretch. Nowadays this verb has a perfectly normal past form (stretched), but in Middle English it was straught (source of distraught [14], an alteration of distract) or straight – whence the adjective straight. The sense ‘not bent or curved’ derives from the notion of stretching something between two points. Straightaway [15] originally meant ‘by a straight path’; the temporal sense ‘immediately’ emerged in the 16th century.
=> distract, distraught, stretch
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
strait: strait: [12] Strait was originally an adjective and adverb, meaning ‘narrow’ or ‘tight’. It reached English via Old French estreit ‘narrow, tight’ from Latin strictus (source of English strict). Its use as a noun, ‘narrow waterway’, emerged in the 14th century, and the metaphorical straits ‘difficulties’ is a 16th-century development.
=> strict
trail: trail: see trawl
train: train: [14] A train is etymologically something that is ‘pulled’ along. The word was borrowed from Old French train, a derivative of the verb trahiner ‘drag’. And this in turn went back to Vulgar Latin *tragināre, a derivative of Latin *tragere, a variant of trahere ‘pull’. It was first used in English for ‘delay’, from the notion of being ‘pulled’ back, and ‘part of a garment that trails behind’ dates from the 15th century.

When steam locomotives pulling carriages were introduced in the 1820s, the combined vehicle was called a train of carriages; the simple term train is first recorded in 1835. The use of the verb train for ‘instruct, school’, which dates from the 16th century, evolved from an earlier ‘direct the course of growth of a plant’, which in turn went back to the original notion of ‘pulling’.
=> tractor
trait: trait: see trace
traitor: traitor: [13] Traitor and tradition [14] come from the same ultimate source: Latin trādere. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix trāns- ‘across’ and dare ‘give’ (source of English data, date, etc). It originally meant ‘hand over, deliver’, and it is this sense that (via the derivative trāditiō) has given English tradition – etymologically something ‘handed over’ to succeeding generations. But it was also used metaphorically for ‘betray’, and this meaning has passed through into English in betray, traitor, and treason.
=> betray, tradition, traitor, treason
Chisholm Trail: 1866, from Jesse Chisholm (c. 1806-1868), halfbreed Cherokee trader and government agent who first plied it. The surname is from a barony in England, probably from Old English cisel "gravel."
constrain (v.): early 14c., constreyen, from stem of Old French constreindre (Modern French contraindre) "restrain, control," from Latin constringere "to bind together, tie tightly, fetter, shackle, chain," from com- "together" (see com-) + stringere "to draw tight" (see strain (v.)). Related: Constrained; constraining.
constraint (n.): late 14c., "distress, oppression," from Old French constreinte "binding, constraint, compulsion" (Modern French contrainte), fem. noun from constreint, past participle of constreindre, from Vulgar Latin *constrinctus, from Latin constrictus (see constrain). Meaning "coercion, compulsion" is from 1530s.
contrail (n.): 1945, from condensation trail.
contraindicate (v.): 1660s, from contra- + indicate. Related: Contraindicated; contraindication (1620s).
entrails (n.): "internal parts of animal bodies," c. 1300, from Old French entrailles (12c.), from Late Latin intralia "inward parts, intestines" (8c.), from altered form of Latin interanea, noun use of neuter plural of interaneus "internal, that which is within," from inter "between, among" (see inter-). Latin interanea yielded Late Latin intrania, hence Italian entrango, Spanish entrañas, Old French entraigne; the alternative form that led to the Modern English word evidently is from influence of the Latin neuter plural (collective) adjective suffix -alia (French -aille).
entrain (v.1): "to draw along," 1560s, a term in chemistry, from French entrainer (12c.), from en- "away" (see en- (1)) + trainer "to drag" (see train (n.)). Related: Entrained; entrainment.
entrain (v.2): "get on board a locomotive train," 1860s, from en- (1) "in, into" + train (n.). Related: Entrained.
mitrailleuse (n.): kind of machine gun, from French mitrailleuse (19c.), from Old French mitaille (14c.) "small coins," hence "old iron, scrap iron," then "grapeshot;" originally a diminutive of mite "a small coin" (see mite (n.2)). "For sense development it should be borne in mind that orig. guns used to be loaded with scrap iron" [Klein].
portrait (n.): 1560s, "a figure, drawn or painted," a back formation from portraiture or directly from Middle French portrait, from Old French portret (13c.), noun use of past participle of portraire "to paint, depict" (see portray). Especially of the head and face of a person.
portraiture (n.): mid-14c., from Old French portraiture "portrait, image, portrayal, resemblance" (12c.), from portrait (see portrait).
quatrain (n.): 1580s, from Middle French quatrain "four-line stanza" (16c.), from Old French quatre "four," from Latin quattuor "four" (see four).
re-strain (v.): "strain again," 1874, from re- + strain (v.). Related: Re-strained; re-straining.
restrain (v.): mid-14c., from stem of Old French restreindre "press, push together; curb, bridle; bandage" (12c.), from Latin restringere "draw back tightly, confine, check" (see restriction). Related: Restrained; restraining.
That which we restrain we keep within limits; that which we restrict we keep within certain definite limits; that which we repress we try to put out of existence. [Century Dictionary, 1902]
restrained (adj.): "repressed, kept under control," 1570s, past participle adjective from restrain.
restraint (n.): "action of restraining; means of restraint," early 15c., from Old French restreinte, noun use of fem. past participle of restraindre (see restrain). Sense of "reserve" is from c. 1600.
retrain (v.): 1905, from re- "back, again" + train (v.). Related: Retrained; retraining.
self-portrait (n.): 1821, from self- + portrait, translating German Selbstbildnis.
self-restraint (n.): 1754, from self- + restraint.
semi-trailer (n.): also semitrailer, 1910 in reference to motor vehicles (late 19c. in botany), from semi- + trailer.Short form semi is attested from 1942.
straight (adj.1): late 14c., "direct, undeviating; not crooked, not bent or curved," of a person, "direct, honest;" properly "stretched," adjectival use of Old English streht (earlier streaht), past participle of streccan "to stretch" (see stretch (v.)). Related: Straightly; straightness.

Meaning "true, direct, honest" is from 1520s. Of communication, "clear, unambiguous," from 1862. Sense of "undiluted, uncompromising" (as in straight whiskey, 1874) is American English, first recorded 1856. As an adverb from c. 1300, "in a straight line, without swerving or deviating." Theatrical sense of "serious" (as opposed to popular or comic) is attested from 1895; vaudeville slang straight man first attested 1923.

Go straight in the underworld slang sense is from 1919; straighten up "become respectable" is from 1907. To play it straight is from 1906 in theater, 1907 in sports ("play fair"), with figurative extension; later perhaps also from jazz. Straight arrow "decent, conventional person" is 1969, from archetypal Native American brave name. Straight shooter is from 1928. Straight As "top grades" is from 1920.
straight (adj.2): "conventional," especially "heterosexual," 1941, a secondary sense evolved from straight (adj.1), probably suggested by straight and narrow path "course of conventional morality and law-abiding behavior," which is based on a misreading of Matt. vii:14 (where the gate is actually strait), and the other influence seems to be from strait-laced.
straight (n.): 1640s, "a level position," from straight (adj.1). From 1864 as "straight part of a race track." Poker sense attested from 1841. Meaning "conventional person" is first recorded 1967, from straight (adj.2).
straight-edge (n.): 1812, "bar for drawing or measuring straight lines," from straight (adj.1) + edge (n.). As the name of a punk subculture, attested by 1987, probably suggested by straight (adj.2).
straight-faced (adj.): 1938, of persons, "with visage showing no emotion or reaction," from expression keep a straight face (1897), from straight (adj.).
straighten (v.): 1540s (transitive), from straight (adj.1) + -en (1). Intransitive sense from 1891. Related: Straightened; straightening; straightener. The Middle English verb was simply straight (late 14c.).
straightforward (adj.): 1550s, "directly forward, right ahead," from straight (adj.1) + forward (adv.). In reference to language, from 1806. Related: Straightforwardly; straightforwardness.
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.).
strainer (n.): "utensil which strains," early 14c., agent noun from strain (v.).
strait (n.): mid-14c., "narrow, confined space or place," specifically of bodies of water from late 14c., from Old French estreit, estrait "narrow part, pass, defile, narrow passage of water," noun use of adjective (see strait (adj.)). Sense of "difficulty, plight" (usually straits) first recorded 1540s. Strait and narrow "conventional or wisely limited way of life" is recorded from mid-14c. (compare straight (adj.2)).
strait (adj.): "narrow, strict" (late 13c.), from Old French estreit, estrait "tight, close-fitting, constricted, narrow" (Modern French étroit), from Latin strictus, past participle of stringere (2) "bind or draw tight" (see strain (v.)). More or less confused with unrelated straight (adj.). Related: Straightly.
strait-jacket (n.): also straitjacket, 1795 as a type of restraint for lunatics, from strait (adj.) + jacket (n.); earlier in same sense was strait-waistcoat (1753). As a verb from 1863. Related: Strait-jacketed.
strait-laced (adj.): early 15c., of stays or bodices, "made close and tight;" see strait (adj.) + lace (v.). Figurative sense of "over-precise, prudish, strict in manners or morals" is from 1550s.
straiten (v.): 1520s (transitive) "to restrict, make narrow," from strait (adj.) + -en (1). Related: straitened; straitening. Earlier verb was simply strait "to make narrow" (early 15c.).
straitened (adj.): c. 1600, "too narrow;" 1716, "reduced to hardship;" past participle adjective from strait (v.). Phrase straitened circumstances recorded from 1766.
trail (v.): c. 1300, "to hang down loosely and flow behind" (of a gown, sleeve, etc.), from Old French trailler "to tow; pick up the scent of a quarry," ultimately from Vulgar Latin *tragulare "to drag," from Latin tragula "dragnet, javelin thrown by a strap," probably related to trahere "to pull" (see tract (n.1)). Transitive sense of "to tow or pull along the ground" is from c. 1400. The meaning "follow the trail of" (an animal, etc.) is first recorded late 14c. Meaning "to lag behind" is from 1957. Related: Trailed; trailing.
trail (n.): early 14c., "trailing part of a robe, gown, etc.," from trail (v.). The meaning "track or smell left by a person or animal" is also from 1580s. Meaning "path or track worn in wilderness" is attested from 1807. Trail of Tears in reference to the U.S. government's brutally incompetent Cherokee removal of 1838-9 is attested by 1908.