Refrained

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Held oneself back from performing an action or expressing oneself
2. Chose not to participate in or engage with a particular behavior or speech
3. Deliberately avoided taking a certain action or making a statement

Etymology: "Refrained" is the past tense of "refrain," and the verb carries two separate ancestries that were once one. The sense of holding back comes from Latin "refrēnāre," meaning "to curb" or "to bridle," built from "re-" and "frēnum," a bit or bridle for a horse. Picture a rider pulling a horse's head back against the reins, and you have the physical image behind the modern idea of restraining yourself. The word passed through Old French "refrener" into Middle English as "refreynen," and it kept that sense of checking or controlling oneself. A second strand of "refrain" is more surprising. Old French "refraindre" meant "to break off" or "to repeat," from Latin "frangō," "break," so the word that now means abstaining also gave English the musical term for a repeated chorus. The two verbs are unrelated in origin, which is why the modern "refrain" and the bridle-based "refrain" look identical but descend from different Latin roots.

Synonyms: held back, restrained, stopped, abstained, avoided

Antonyms: indulged, allowed, permitted, encouraged, facilitated