Etymology

overconstrain

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Today it means: To apply excessive constraints (to). Full definition →

English constrain ← Middle English constreinen ← Old French constreindre
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Germanic*uber
  4. Old Englishofer-
  5. Middle Englishover-
  6. Englishover-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*ḱe?
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ḱóm
  9. Proto-Italic*kom
  10. Proto-Italic*kom-
  11. Latincōn-
  12. Proto-Indo-European*streyg-
  13. Proto-Indo-European*strinégti
  14. Proto-Italic*stringō
  15. Proto-Indo-European*strengʰ-
  16. Proto-Indo-European*stréngʰeti
  17. Proto-Italic*strengō
  18. Latinstringō
  19. Latincōnstringō
  20. Old Frenchconstreindre
  21. Middle Englishconstreinen
  22. Englishconstrain
  23. English todayoverconstrain

From over- + constrain.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.