restrict
/ɹɪˈstɹɪkt/verb
restrict is spelled R-E-S-T-R-I-C-T: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 6.3 times per million words in written English, the 9,594th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, restrict means “To restrain within boundaries; to limit; to confine” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in restrict?
| Letters | 8: R-E-S-T-R-I-C-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.3 times per million words; the 9,594th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is restrict?
Restrict appears 6.3 times per million words in written English, the 9,594th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce restrict?
- /ɹɪˈstɹɪkt/
Restrict has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-restrict.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of restrict
- restricts present, singular, he/she/it
- restricting participle, present
- restricted participle, past
- more restrict comparative
- most restrict superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does restrict mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To restrain within boundaries; to limit; to confine
After suffering diahrroea, the patient was restricted to a diet of rice, cold meat, and yoghurt.
- 2
To consider (a function) as defined on a subset of its original domain.
If we restrict sine to #92;left#91;-#92;frac#92;pi2,#92;frac#92;pi2#92;right#93;, we can define its inverse.
adjective
- 1
obsoleteRestricted.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Restrict in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to restrain within bounds:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | restreindre, limiter |
| German | beschränken, begrenzen, restringieren |
| Portuguese | restringir, limitar |
| Spanish | restringir, cortapisar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does restrict come from?
Borrowed from Latin restrictus, perfect passive participle of restringō (“draw back tightly; restrain, restrict”), from re- (“back, again”) + stringō (“press, tighten, compress”). Doublet of ristretto as an adjective.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).