What does astriction mean?
A striction is a noun denoting the act or process of binding, tightening, or drawing something together, along with the resulting state of tightness or contraction. It derives from the Latin verb astringere, meaning 'to bind fast', the same root behind familiar words such as astringent, constrict, and strict. Although once used more broadly for any kind of physical or figurative constraint, the word today survives mainly as a technical and somewhat archaic term. Its most enduring niche is medical: in older clinical writing, astriction described excessive tightness in the body, particularly the constipating effect produced by astringent medicines — substances such as tannin-rich remedies that contract tissue and reduce discharge. In general speech and contemporary prose, the commoner word constriction has taken over nearly all its work, leaving astriction a precise but infrequent choice best suited to historical, legal-historical, or specialist medical discussion where an exact Latinate term is wanted.
nounThe act or process of binding, tightening, or contracting something; in medicine, a condition of excessive tightness or contraction, especially the constipating effect produced by an astringent substance.
- The action of binding, tightening, or contracting; the state of being drawn together or compressed.
- Medicine: excessive bodily tightness or constipation, especially as an effect of an astringent agent.
"The physician noted that the herbal remedy's astriction had left the patient noticeably constipated."
"The surgeon observed the gradual astriction of the wound edges as they drew naturally together."
"Patients were warned that the tannin-rich tonic might cause a degree of astriction."
Usually treated as uncountable; the plural is rare and appears mainly in older technical writing referring to multiple instances of tightening or multiple constipating effects.
"Early physicians catalogued the various astrictions produced by mineral astringents."
That dry, mouth-puckering bite of an unripe persimmon and a dose of constipation share a single Latin root meaning 'to bind tight' — and astriction names both.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of astriction
A striction comes from the Latin astringere, formed from ad- ('to, toward') plus stringere ('to bind tight'), which also gives English strain, strict, and stricture. The noun passed through Late Latin astrictio and entered English in the sixteenth century, when learned Latinate vocabulary was flowing freely into scholarly and medical writing. Its closest living relatives include astringent and astringency, which preserve the original sense of binding or drawing tight.
Related word forms
How astriction is actually used
A rare and chiefly technical term, encountered most often in older medical texts and formal writing. In modern usage it has been almost entirely displaced by 'constriction' for the general sense of tightening, though it survives in historical and specialist contexts.
Easily confused with astriction
Constriction is the common everyday term for narrowing or squeezing, while astriction is a rare, largely technical synonym that also carries a specific medical sense of constipating tightness.
Astringency refers to the puckering, drying quality of a substance such as an unripe fruit or tannic wine, whereas astriction refers to the act or state of being bound tightly or, medically, to constipation.