'astringe' (and its forms such as 'astringes') originates from Latin, specifically the verb 'astringere', where 'ad-' (assimilated to 'as-') meant 'to' or 'toward' and 'stringere' meant 'to draw tight' or 'to bind'.

'astringere' passed into Medieval/Church Latin and influenced Old French and Middle English borrowings; Middle English recorded forms include 'astringen' or 'astringe', which developed into the modern English verb 'astringe' and its inflected forms like 'astringes'.

Initially it meant 'to draw tight or bind', and over time it retained that core meaning while also developing related senses such as 'to cause contraction' and the medical/sensory sense of 'acting as an astringent'.