Etymology

strait

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Today it means: Narrow; restricted as to space or room; close. Full definition →

Middle English streit ← Old French estreit ← Latin strictus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromstrictus
  2. Old French · derived fromestreit
  3. Middle English · inherited fromstreit
  4. English todaystrait

From Middle English streit, from Old French estreit (modern form étroit), from Latin strictus, perfect passive participle of stringō (“compress, tighten”). Doublet of stretto and strict.

Words from the same roots

Latinstrictus all →

stressstrictstricture

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.