different between contraction vs constraint

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French contraction, from Latin contracti?. Equivalent to contract +? -ion

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /k?n?t?æk.??n/, /k?n?t?æk.??n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /k?n?t?æk.??n/
• Rhymes: -æk??n

Noun

contraction (countable and uncountable, plural contractions)

1. A reversible reduction in size.
2. (economics) A period of economic decline or negative growth.

   The country's economic contraction was caused by high oil prices.

3. (biology) A shortening of a muscle during its use.
4. (medicine) A strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth.
5. (linguistics) A process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme (a word) are lost or reduced, such that it becomes a bound morpheme (a clitic) that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word.

   In English didn't, that's, and wanna, the endings -n't, -'s, and -a arose by contraction.

6. (English orthography) A word with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe, usually resulting from the above process.

   "Don't" is a contraction of "do not."

7. A shorthand symbol indicating an omission for the purpose of brevity.
8. (medicine) The process of contracting a disease.
9. (phonetics) Syncope, the loss of sounds from within a word.
10. The acquisition of something, generally negative.

    Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors.

11. (medicine) A distinct stage of wound healing, wherein the wound edges are gradually pulled together.

Antonyms

• expansion
• dilatation

Derived terms

Related terms

• contract
• contractation
• contractive
• haustral contraction

Translations

See also

• omission
• Category:English contractions
• contraction on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin contractio, contractionem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.t?ak.sj??/

Noun

contraction f (plural contractions)

1. contraction

Related terms

• contracter
• contrat

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?st?e?nt/
• Rhymes: -e?nt

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

Further reading

• constraint on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• in contrast