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constraint.

Something that constrains; a restriction.

10 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/kənˈstɹeɪnt/Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation/kənˈstɹæɪnt/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. Something that constrains; a restriction.

    countable · uncountable
    An engineer must recognize the difference between a constraint (to work within) and a problem (to be eliminated via resolution).
  2. An irresistible force or compulsion.

    countable · uncountable
    They confessed, but only under severe constraint.
  3. The repression of one's feelings.

    countable · uncountable
  4. A condition that a solution to an optimization problem must satisfy.

    countable · uncountable
  5. A linkage or other restriction that maintains database integrity.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English constreynt, constreynte, from Old French constreinte, past participle of constreindre (“to constrain”), from Latin cōnstringō (corresponding to the past participle cōnstrictus).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.