Restrainer

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈstreɪnɚ/

Definitions

1. A tool or person designed to inhibit or control movement or reactions
2. An object or individual used to limit or control the motion or behavior of someone or something
3. Something or someone that serves to hold back or prevent free movement or response

Etymology: "Restrainer" is simply "restrain" with the agent suffix "-er" added, meaning one that restrains or a thing that restrains. The verb "restrain" came into English from Old French "restreindre," itself from Latin "restringere," meaning "to draw back tight," built from "re-" (back) and "stringere" (to draw tight), the same root behind "strict" and "stringent." The original idea is therefore one of tightening or drawing something back, which explains why a restraint is something that pulls against motion. The suffix "-er" has a long pedigree of its own. It descends from Latin "-arius," which denoted a person connected with or performing a task, and passed into Old English as "-ere" and into Middle English as "-er," so that words like "baker" and "singer" follow the same pattern. Attaching it to "restrain" produced a noun for a device or person that holds something back, and the word fits the same family as "restraint," which the English language had already adopted from the same French source.

Synonyms: constrictor, deterrent, inhibitor, curb, moderator

Antonyms: encourager, promoter, liberator, facilitator, advocate