All 3 Uses of
fetter
in
War and Peace
- "I not only understood her, but it was just that inner, spiritual force, that sincerity, that frankness of soul—that very soul of hers which seemed to be fettered by her body—it was that soul I loved in her...loved so strongly and happily..." and suddenly he remembered how his love had ended.†
Chpt 10fettered = restrained or hindered
- This unexpected and, as it seemed to Nicholas, quite voluntary letter from Sonya freed him from the knot that fettered him and from which there had seemed no escape.†
Chpt 12 *
- When he came to himself after being wounded and the flower of eternal, unfettered love had instantly unfolded itself in his soul as if freed from the bondage of life that had restrained it, he no longer feared death and ceased to think about it.†
Chpt 12unfettered = unrestrained or unhinderedstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unfettered means not and reverses the meaning of fettered. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
Definition:
to restrain or hinder
or more archaically:
a shackle for the ankles
or more archaically:
a shackle for the ankles