CONSTRAINT


Meaning of CONSTRAINT in English

kənzˈtrānt, kənˈstr- noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French constreinte, constrainte, from feminine of constreint, constraint, past participle of constreindre, constraindre

1.

a. : the act or action of using force or threat of force to prevent or condition an action

b. : the quality or state of being checked, restricted, or compelled to avoid or perform some action

the individual spirit anxious for freedom from constraint — W.C.Brownell

the constraint and monotony of a monastic life — Matthew Arnold

c. : a constraining agency : a constricting, regulating, or restricting force : check

a government works only by means of external constraints, generally by the fear of punishment — M.R.Cohen

d. : a restriction or limitation that contains a motion or other process (as the action of a cam in machinery)

2. : compulsion by circumstances : the force of necessity : exigency

obligation is felt by the good man, whereas the bad one feels constraint — Samuel Alexander

3.

a. : control over one's own feelings, behavior, or actions that is exercised either to feign or repress

a youth ill brought up, without the training which teaches us that we must put some constraint upon our feelings — Matthew Arnold

b. : the sense of being constrained, checked, or inhibited : embarrassment

a constraint between us as if we were strangers — J.P.Marquand

4. : the restoring force on an ion in a crystal per unit displacement constituting a measure of the forces acting between ions in a lattice

Synonyms: see force

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.