Limited, restricted, or forced to do something against one's will or preference.
From Old French 'constreindre', from Latin 'constringere' meaning 'to bind together or compress,' from 'con-' (together) and 'stringere' (to tighten). The meaning shifted from physical binding to emotional or circumstantial restriction.
The word captures both physical constriction (like a constrained rope) and emotional states—linguists call this 'metaphorical extension,' where we borrow words from the physical world to describe abstract feelings, helping us understand intangible experiences.
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