strictus

Strictus is the past participle of stringere, to draw tight, to bind. Latin used it for anything compressed or narrowed. The word entered Old French as estreit (narrow), which became Middle English 'strait.' The Strait of Messina, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca — all are named for narrowness. Two landmasses press in from both sides, and the water is squeezed through.

The word had non-geographic meanings from the start. A strait was any tight or difficult situation — 'dire straits' is a redundancy, since the word itself already implies difficulty. A straitjacket restricts movement. Straitlaced originally described a tightly laced corset before it meant morally rigid. The same Latin root generated 'strict,' 'restrict,' 'constrict,' and 'district' — all about tightening, binding, or drawing lines.

The great straits of world history are chokepoints: whoever controls the narrow passage controls the trade. The Strait of Hormuz carries a third of the world's oil tanker traffic. The Strait of Malacca handles a quarter of all global shipping. The Bosphorus connects the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Wars have been fought over these passages for millennia, precisely because they are narrow — because they are straits.

English eventually split the word in two. 'Strait' kept the geographic and metaphorical tightness. 'Straight' (with a gh) took the meaning of 'not curved,' from a different etymological path. The two words sound identical but share nothing except pronunciation. A strait is narrow. Straight is direct. The confusion is permanent.