What does “un frein” mean in French?

In this clip, a friend tells Wendy that not having her dad behind her is “un frein” for her modeling dream. A “frein” is the brake on a car or bike. But French uses it for life too — anything that slows you down or holds you back. “Mettre un frein à quelque chose” means to put the brakes on something, to slow it down. So a “frein” is your obstacle, the thing pulling you back.

In the clip: “Tu n’as pas ton père derrière toi. C’est un frein pour toi.” — “You don’t have your father behind you. That’s something holding you back.” The word “frein” comes from Latin “frenum”, which meant the metal piece and straps used to control a horse. The idea was always about holding something back. Today the everyday meaning is the brake on a car or bicycle. But French uses it widely as a metaphor. “C’est un frein” = it’s an obstacle. “Mettre un frein à quelque chose” = to slow something down or stop it, for example: “Il faut mettre un frein aux dépenses” (We need to put the brakes on spending). The opposite idea is “donner un coup d’accélérateur” — to speed things up. There is also the idiom “ronger son frein”, literally “to chew on your bit” (the metal piece in a horse’s mouth), meaning to wait with frustration because you cannot act yet.