refrain.
To hold back, to restrain (someone or something).
Meaning & usage
To hold back, to restrain (someone or something).
To show restraint; to hold oneself back.
To repress (a desire, emotion etc.); to check or curb.
To stop oneself from some action or interference; to abstain; to eschew
To abstain from (food or drink).
Where this word comes from
Inherited from Middle English refreynen, from Anglo-Norman refrener, Old French refrener, from Latin refrēnāre, from re- + frēnāre, from frēnum.
The chorus or burden of a song repeated at the end of each verse or stanza.
A much repeated comment, complaint, or saying.
Where this word comes from
From French refrain, from the Old French verb refraindre (“to break off, repeat”), from Latin re- (“back, again”) + frangō (“break”); compare Occitan refranhs (“a refrain”), refranher (“to repeat”). See refract and the verb refrain.
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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.