The journey of 'strangle' begins with the Greek concept of a strangálē, a halter or noose used to bind or restrain. This concrete object gave rise to the verb strangalân, meaning to tighten such a noose, inherently carrying the sense of constriction and suffocation. Latin adopted this action directly as strangulāre, preserving the core meaning of throttling or choking by compression of the throat. Entering English via French, the word shed its initial vowel but retained its lethal specificity, eventually expanding metaphorically to describe the suppression or stifling of abstract entities like growth or freedom.

The word is a simplex form. It entered Middle English from Old French estrangler, which derived from Latin strangulāre ("to choke, throttle"). The Latin term itself originates from Ancient Greek στραγγαλᾶν (strangalân, "to tie a halter, to strangle"), from στραγγάλη (strangálē, "a halter, a noose").