refrain

Etymology 1

From Middle English refreynen, from Anglo-Norman refraindre, Middle French refreindre (from Latin refringere), and Anglo-Norman refrener, Middle French refrener (from Latin refrenare).

verb

1. (transitive, archaic) To hold back, to restrain (someone or something).
2. (reflexive, archaic) To show restraint; to hold oneself back.
   As I went down the river, all dissatisfaction at my lot passed away, and by the time Dartmouth came in view I could no longer refrain myself, but threw my cap into the air, and barely caught it from falling overboard as I shouted, "Hurrah for merry England![…]" 1899, Sabine Baring-Gould, A Book of the West, Volume 1 Chapter 18
3. (transitive, now rare) To repress (a desire, emotion etc.); to check or curb.
4. (intransitive, with preposition "from") To stop oneself from some action or interference; to abstain.
   July 5, 1731, Jonathan Swift, letter to Vanessa If you knew how I struggle for a little health, what uneasiness I am at in riding and walking, and refraining from every thing agreeable to my taste
5. (transitive, rare, regional) To abstain from (food or drink).

Etymology 2

From French refrain, from the Old French verb refraindre (“to break off, repeat”), from Latin re- (“back, again”) + frangō (“break”); compare Occitan refranhs (“a refrain”), refranher (“to repeat”). See refract and the verb refrain.

noun

1. The chorus or burden of a song repeated at the end of each verse or stanza.
   For perhaps as much as thirty seconds they kept it up. It was a refrain that was often heard in moments of overwhelming emotion. Partly it was a sort of hymn to the wisdom and majesty of Big Brother, but still more it was an act of self-hypnosis, a deliberate drowning of consciousness by means of rhythmic noise. 1949, George Orwell, chapter 1, in Nineteen Eighty-Four
2. (by extension) A much repeated comment, complaint, or saying.