1570s, "to put a cork sole on a shoe," from cork (n.)). Meaning "to stop with a cork" is from 1640s. Figurative sense "to stop or check" is from 1640s. Meaning "blacken with burnt cork," especially the face, to perform in theatrical blackface, is from 1836. Related: Corked; corking.
1853, "charge made or percentage received by a broker or seller for deferring settlement of a stock sale," a stockbroker's invention, perhaps somehow derived from continue, or from Spanish contengo "I contain, refrain, restrain, check." Continuation was used in this sense from 1813. As a verb, from 1900.
mid-14c., restreinen, "to stop, prevent, curb" (a vice, purpose, appetite, desire), from stem of Old French restraindre, restreindre "to press, push together; curb, bridle; bandage" (12c.), from Latin restringere "draw back tightly, tie back; confine, check" (see restriction).
From late 14c. as "keep (someone or something) from a course of action," hence "keep in check or under control, deprive (someone) of liberty by restraint" (1520s). Related: Restrained; restraining; restrainer; restrainable.
That which we restrain we keep within limits; that which we restrict we keep within certain definite limits; that which we repress we try to put out of existence. [Century Dictionary, 1902]
"prove to be false or invalid, overthrow by evidence or stronger argument," 1520s, from French confuter, from Latin confutare "repress, check; disprove, restrain, silence," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see con-), + *futare "to beat," which is perhaps from PIE root *bhau- "to strike." Related: Confuted; confuting.
c. 1300, reine, "strap of a bridle," attached to it on either side of the head, by which the rider or driver restrains and guides the animal, from Old French rene, resne "reins, bridle strap, laces" (Modern French rêne), probably from Vulgar Latin *retina "a bond, check," a back-formation from Latin retinere "hold back" (see retain). Compare Latin retinaculum "a tether, halter, rein."
The figurative extension of reins to "guidance, means of controlling; control, check, restraint" is by mid-14c. Hence many expressions, originally from horse-management: Hold the reins "wield power" (early 15c.); take the reins "assume the power of guidance or government" (1610s). To give something free rein also is originally of horses; to give (a horse) the reins (1620s) is to allow it free motion.
also set-back, 1670s, "reversal, check to progress," from the verbal phrase, attested mid-15c. as "withhold;" see set (v.) + back (adv.). Backset (1721) is used in the same sense. The meaning "space between a building and a property line or roadway" is from 1916. To set (someone) back "cost" (a certain sum of money) is from 1900.
"act of disproving or proving to be false," mid-15c., from Latin confutationem (nominative confutatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of confutare "repress, check; disprove, restrain, silence," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see con-), + *futare "to beat," which is perhaps from PIE root *bhau- "to strike." Confutation of the person in logic is argument ad hominem.
