entry
attract
/əˈtɹækt/draw toward oneself or its source
From Latin ad- (to) + Latin tract (to pull).
from Latin attractus , past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin attractus , past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin attractus , past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract,"
+1 more sourceWord Ancestry
from Latin attractus , past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin attractus , past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract,"
+1 more sourcefrom Latin attractus , past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract,"
+1 more sourceA tiny Latin prefix did a lot of heavy lifting here. In attrahere, ad meant “toward,” and trahere meant “to pull,” so the whole thing was basically a verbal hand reaching out and hauling something close. English picked it up in the early 1400s, first for literal drawing or pulling, then even for medicine, where a poultice could “draw out” bad matter like a little linguistic vacuum. By the 1690s, the meaning had gone glamorous: not just magnets and fluids, but eyes, attention, admirers. The same tugging family gave English traction, tractor, contract, extract, and distract — all different ways of saying something gets pulled, shortened, stretched, or stolen away. So when you say someone is attractive, you’re really saying they have the power to yank the world a little closer.
The Story
A tiny Latin prefix did a lot of heavy lifting here. In attrahere, ad meant “toward,” and trahere meant “to pull,” so the whole thing was basically a verbal hand reaching out and hauling something close. English picked it up in the early 1400s, first for literal drawing or pulling, then even for medicine, where a poultice could “draw out” bad matter like a little linguistic vacuum. By the 1690s, the meaning had gone glamorous: not just magnets and fluids, but eyes, attention, admirers. The same tugging family gave English traction, tractor, contract, extract, and distract — all different ways of saying something gets pulled, shortened, stretched, or stolen away. So when you say someone is attractive, you’re really saying they have the power to yank the world a little closer.
Kin & Kindred
From 'ad-'·to, toward
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'tract'·to pull, draw, drag
Derived Terms
English words from this root