refrain

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈfɹeɪn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪn

Etymology 1

From Middle English refreynen, from Anglo-Norman refraindre, Middle French refreindre (from Latin refringere), and Anglo-Norman refrener, Middle French refrener (from Latin refrenare).

Verb

refrain (third-person singular simple present refrains, present participle refraining, simple past and past participle refrained)

1. (transitive, archaic) To hold back, to restrain (someone or something).
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Proverbs 1:15:

     Refrain thy foot from their path.

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 1: Telemachus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, , →OCLC, part I , page 14:

     The presence even for a moment among a party of debauchees of a woman endued with every quality of modesty and not less severe than beautiful refrained the humorous sallies even of the most licentious but her departure was the signal for an outbreak of ribaldry.

2. (reflexive, archaic) To show restraint; to hold oneself back.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt  (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts:

     And nowe I saye unto you: refrayne youreselves from these men, and let them alone [...].

   • 1899, Sabine Baring-Gould, A Book of the West, Volume 1 Chapter 18:

     As I went down the river, all dissatisfaction at my lot passed away, and by the time Dartmouth came in view I could no longer refrain myself, but threw my cap into the air, and barely caught it from falling overboard as I shouted, "Hurrah for merry England! […] "

3. (transitive, now rare) To repress (a desire, emotion etc.); to check or curb.
4. (intransitive, with preposition "from") To stop oneself from some action or interference; to abstain.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible,  (King James Version), London: Robert Barker, , →OCLC, Acts 5:38:

     Refrain from these men, and let them alone.

   • 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: , 2nd edition, London: A Miller, for Edw Dod and Nath Ekins, , →OCLC:

     They refrained therefrom [eating flesh] some time after.

   • July 5, 1731, Jonathan Swift, letter to Vanessa

     If you knew how I struggle for a little health, what uneasiness I am at in riding and walking, and refraining from every thing agreeable to my taste

   • 1895 May 7, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Time Traveler Returns”, in The Time Machine: An Invention, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC, page 36:

     I will [...] tell you the story of what has happened to me, if you like, but you must refrain from interruptions.

5. (transitive, rare, regional) To abstain from (food or drink).
   • 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: , 2nd edition, London: A Miller, for Edw Dod and Nath Ekins, , →OCLC:

     Who, requiring a remedy for his gout, received no other counsel than to refrain cold drink.

Translations

Etymology 2

From French refrain, from the Old French verb refraindre (“to break off, repeat”), from Latin re- (“back, again”) + frangō (“break”); compare Occitan refranhs (“a refrain”), refranher (“to repeat”). See refract and the verb refrain.

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

refrain

Wikipedia

refrain (plural refrains)

1. The chorus or burden of a song repeated at the end of each verse or stanza.
   • 1949, George Orwell, chapter 1, in Nineteen Eighty-Four:

     For perhaps as much as thirty seconds they kept it up. It was a refrain that was often heard in moments of overwhelming emotion. Partly it was a sort of hymn to the wisdom and majesty of Big Brother, but still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise.

2. (by extension) A much repeated comment, complaint, or saying.

   Synonym: old saw

Translations

References

• “refrain”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Ren fair, ferrian

French

Etymology

Alteration of Old French refrait, past participle of the verb refraindre (based on the verb's infinitive), itself from Vulgar Latin *refrangere, from Latin refringere.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.fʁɛ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

refrain m (plural refrains)

1. refrain, chorus

Derived terms

• changer de refrain

Descendants

• → Danish: refræn
• → English: refrain
• → German: Refrain
• → Greek: ρεφρέν (refrén)
• → Spanish: refrán

Further reading

• “refrain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• fariner

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from French refrain.

Noun

refrain m (invariable)

1. refrain

   Synonym: ritornello

Further reading

• refrain in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• rifarne