different between distraint vs distrain

English

Etymology

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Noun

distraint (countable and uncountable, plural distraints)

1. (law) The legal right of a landlord to seize the property of a tenant in the event of nonpayment of rent.

Related terms

• distrain
• distrainable

Translations

See also

• foreclosure
• garnishment

English

Etymology

From Old French destraindre, from Latin distringere (“to pull asunder, stretch out, engage, hinder, molest, Medieval Latin also compel, coerce as by exacting a pledge by a fine or by imprisonment”), from dis- (“apart”) + stringere (“to draw tight, strain”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d??st?e?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n
• Hyphenation: dis?train

Verb

distrain (third-person singular simple present distrains, present participle distraining, simple past and past participle distrained)

1. (obsolete) To squeeze, press, embrace; to constrain, oppress.
   • 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XII, xii:

     Thus spake the Prince, and gently 'gan distrain / Now him, now her, between his friendly arms.

2. (law, transitive, obsolete) To force (someone) to do something by seizing their property.

3. (law, intransitive) To seize somebody's property in place of, or to force, payment of a debt.
4. (obsolete) To pull off, tear apart.

Synonyms

• (to seize somebody's property in place of, or to force payment of a debt) distress

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• distrain in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• distrain in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• distrain at OneLook Dictionary Search