late 14c., figurative, "to thwart, frustrate;" see checkmate (n.). As a verb in chess, from 1789. Related: Checkmated; checkmating.
"unstressed syllable at the beginning of a verse," 1833, Latinized from Greek anakrousis "a pushing back," of a ship, "backing water," from anakrouein "to push back, stop short, check," from ana "back" (see ana-) + krouein "to strike," from PIE *kreue- (2) "to push, strike" (source also of Russian krusit, Lithuanian krušu, krušti "to smash, shatter," Old Church Slavonic kruchu "piece, bit of food," Old English hreowian "feel pain or sorrow," Old Norse hryggja "make sad"). Related: Anacrustic.
late 14c., "self-restraint, moderation," especially with regard to desires and passions, "moderation in sexual intercourse, chastity, restraint of the sexual passions within lawful bounds," from Old French continence (14c.) and directly from Latin continentia "a holding back, repression," abstract noun from continent-, present-participle stem of continere "to hold back, check," also "hold together, enclose," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + tenere "to hold" (from PIE root *ten- "to stretch").
In reference to the body's eliminatory functions, from 1915. Related: Continency.
in chess, "a condition of checkmate, the state of the king when he is in check and cannot move out of it," c. 1300, mat, from Old French mat, from mater "to checkmate" (see mate (v.2)).
Fool's mate, a mode of checkmate in which the tyro, moving first, is mated by his opponent's second move.—Scholar's mate, a simple mode of checkmate, sometimes practised on inexperienced players, in which the skilled player's queen, supported by a bishop, mates the tyro in four moves. [Century Dictionary]
mid-14c., "to check, reprove, rebuke," from Old Norse snubba, Old Danish snebbe, "to curse, chide, snub, scold, reprove." The etymological sense is perhaps "to cut off," and the word probably is related to snip. Compare Swedish snobba "lop off, snuff (a candle)," Old Norse snubbotr "snubbed, nipped, with the tip cut off." Also compare earlier Middle English snibben "rebuke, reprove," from a Scandinavian source.
The sense of "cut off, cut short, nip" is from 1610s, now obsolete. The meaning "treat coldly" appeared early 18c. Related: Snubbed; snubbing.
1560s, frequentative form of stutt "to stutter," from Middle English stutten "to stutter, stammer" (late 14c.), cognate with Middle Low German stoten "to knock, strike against, collide," from Proto-Germanic *staut- "push, thrust" (source also of Old Saxon stotan, Old High German stozan, Gothic stautan "to push, thrust;" German stutzen "to cut short, curtail; to stop short, hesitate," Dutch stuiten "to stop, check, arrest, stem."), from PIE *(s)teu- (1) "to hit, beat, knock against" (see steep (adj.)). The noun is attested from 1854. Related: Stuttered; stuttering; stutterer.
"severe reproof (especially one given by a magistrate or authority) for a fault," 1630s, from French réprimande (16c.), earlier reprimende "reproof," from Latin reprimenda "that is to be repressed" (as in reprimenda culpa "fault to be checked," reprimenda res "thing that ought to be repressed").
The word is thus a noun use of the fem. singular of reprimendus, gerundive of reprimere "hold back, curb," figuratively "check, confine, restrain, refrain," from re- "back" (see re-) + premere "to press, hold fast, cover, crowd, compress" (from PIE root *per- (4) "to strike"). The spelling has been influenced in French by mander "to summon."
late 15c., "strap passing under the jaw of a horse" (attached to the bit of the bridle and used to restrain the animal), from Old French courbe "curb on a horse" (12c.), from Latin curvus, from curvare "to bend," from PIE root *sker- (2) "to turn, bend." The same word was used late 14c. in the sense of "a hump," and in Anglo-Latin as "curved or arched piece of timber" (late 13c.).
Meaning "enclosed framework" is from 1510s, probably originally with a notion of "curved;" extended to margins of garden beds by 1731; to "margin of joined, upright stones between a sidewalk and road" by 1791 (sometimes in this sense spelled kerb). Figurative sense of "a check, a restraint, that which holds back" is from 1610s.
early 15c., restif, restyffe, of animals, "not moving forward," from Old French restif "motionless, brought to a standstill" (Modern French rétif), from rester "to remain" (see rest (v.2)).
Rare or archaic in the original sense; the prevailing meaning "refusing to stand still" especially of horses (attested by 1680s) probably is based on the notion of "unmanageable, impatient in restraint" in reference to a horse refusing to go forward (1650s).
But it also is perhaps influenced by rest (v.), an old aphetic form of arrest "to stop, check," and by confusion with restless. Compare resty in the same sense, 1510s of horses, c. 1600 of persons. Related: Restively; restiveness.
