Strain
Middle English (as a verb): from Old French estreindre, from Latin stringere ‘draw tight’. Current senses of the noun arose in the mid 16th century.
wiktionary
From Middle English streen, strene, streon, istreon(“race, stock, generation”), from Old English strēon, ġestrēon(“gain, wealth”), from Proto-Germanic *streuną(“heap, treasure, profit, gain”), from Proto-Indo-European *strew-(“to spread, strew”) (cognate with Old Saxon gistriuni, Old High German gistriuni(“gain, property, wealth, business”), Latin strues(“heap”)). Confused in Middle English with the related noun strend, strynd, strund, from Old English strȳnd(“race; stock”), from strēonan, strȳnan(“to beget; acquire”). Related also to Dutch struinen(“to prowl, root about, rout”).
From Middle English straynen, streinen, streynen, from Old French estreindre (whence French étreindre(“to grip”)), from Latin stringere(“to draw tight together, to tie”).
From Middle English strenen(“to beget, father, procreate”), from Old English strēonan, strīenan, strȳnan(“to beget, generate, gain, acquire”), from Proto-Germanic *striunijaną(“to furnish, decorate, acquire”).
etymonline
strain (v.)
c. 1300, "tie, bind, fasten, gird," from present participle stem of Old French estreindre "bind tightly, clasp, squeeze," from Latin stringere (2) "draw tight, bind tight, compress, press together," from PIE root *streig- "to stroke, rub, press" (source also of Lithuanian strėgti "congeal, freeze, become stiff;" Greek strangein "twist;" Old High German strician "mends nets;" Old English streccian "to stretch;" German stramm, Dutch stram "stiff").
From late 14c. as "tighten; make taut," also "exert oneself; overexert (a body part)," Sense of "press through a filter, put (a liquid) through a strainer" is from early 14c. (implied in strainer); that of "to stress beyond measure, carry too far, make a forced interpretation of" is from mid-15c. Related: Strained; straining.
strain (n.1)
"injury caused by straining," c. 1400, from strain (v.). The meaning "passage of music" (1570s) probably developed from a verbal sense of "to tighten" the voice, which originally was used in reference to the strings of a musical instrument (late 14c.).
strain (n.2)
"line of descent, lineage, breed, ancestry," c. 1200, from Old English strion, streon "a gain, acquisition, treasure; a begetting, procreation," from Proto-Germanic *streu-nam- "to pile up," from PIE *streu-, extended form of root *stere- "to spread."
Hence "race, stock, line" (early 14c.). Applied to animal species from c. 1600; usually involving fairly minor variations, but not distinct from breed (n.). Normal sound development would have yielded *streen, but the word was altered in late Middle English, apparently by influence of strain (n.1).
