1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/String

STRING, a general term for thin cord, or stout thread, a line or cord on which objects are strung. The O. Eng. word is streng, cf. Dan. streng, Ger. Strang, and meant that which is strongly or tightly twisted; it is related to “strong,” and is to be referred to the root seen also in Lat. stringere, to draw tight, whence “stringent” and “strict,” and in Gr. στραγγάλη, a halter, whence comes “strangle,” to choke, throttle. The word is particularly used of the cord of a bow, and of the stretched cords of gut and wire upon a musical instrument, the vibration of which produces the tones (see Stringed Instruments below). In architecture the term “string-course” is applied to the projecting course or moulding running horizontally along the face of a building.