constraint

English

WOTD – 10 January 2016

Etymology

From Middle English, borrowed from Middle French constrainte, past participle of the verb constraindre (French: contraindre), ultimately from Latin constringo (corresponding to the past participle constrictus).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kənˈstɹeɪnt/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪnt

Noun

constraint (countable and uncountable, plural constraints)

1. Something that constrains; a restriction.
2. An irresistible force or compulsion.
3. The repression of one's feelings.
4. (mathematics) A condition that a solution to an optimization problem must satisfy.
5. (databases) A linkage or other restriction that maintains database integrity.

Derived terms

• constraint satisfaction

Related terms

• constrain
• constrict
• restraint

Translations

something that constrains

• Arabic: متطلب‎
• Bulgarian: принуда (bg) f (prinuda)
• Catalan: restricció f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 約束 (zh), 约束 (zh) (yuēshù)

• Dutch: beperking (nl) f, inperking (nl) f, begrenzing (nl) f
• Finnish: rajoitus (fi), raja (fi), rajoite (fi)
• French: contrainte (fr) f
• Galician: restrición (gl) f
• German: Einschränkung (de) f, Beschränkung (de) f, Restriktion (de) f, Zwang (de) m, Hemmnis (de) n, Auflage (de) f, Bedingung (de) f, Nötigung (de) f, Befangenheit (de) f, Verlegenheit (de) f, Geziertheit f, Zurückhaltung (de) f, Randbedingung (de) f, Nebenbedingung f
• Icelandic: ófrelsi n
• Italian: vincolo (it) m, costrizione (it) f
• Japanese: 束縛 (ja) (そくばく, sokubaku)

• Malay: kekangan
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: begrensning (no) m, f

• Polish: ograniczenie (pl) n, przymus (pl) m
• Portuguese: coação (pt) f, compulsão (pt) f
• Romanian: constrângere (ro) f, obligație (ro) f
• Russian: ограниче́ние (ru) n (ograničénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: èiginn f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ograničénje n, усиљеност f

  Roman: ograničénje (sh) n, usiljenost (sh) f

• Spanish: constreñimiento m, limitación (es) f, restricción (es) f
• Turkish: kısıtlama (tr), sınırlama (tr), tahdit (tr)

mathematics: condition to a solution

• Dutch: beperking (nl) f, randvoorwaarde (nl) f
• Finnish: ehto (fi)
• French: contrainte (fr) f
• German: Zwangsbedingung f
• Italian: vincolo (it) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: beskrankning m, f

• Polish: ograniczenie (pl) n, warunek (pl) m
• Portuguese: restrição (pt) f
• Russian: ограниче́ние (ru) n (ograničénije)
• Spanish: restricción (es) f

Further reading

• constraint on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• in contrast