Leather straps attached to a horse's bridle used to control the horse, or means of control over something.
From Old French "rene" and Latin "retinere" meaning to hold back. The word originally described the physical straps but metaphorically means control over anything.
The phrase 'to take the reins' comes directly from horsemanship—and interestingly, horses understand rein pressure the same way now as they did 5,000 years ago, making it one of our oldest animal communication methods!
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