Etymologically
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attraction

Etymology and origin of the English word attraction

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1400
Borrowed from
Old French atraccion
Ultimate origin
Latin (attraho)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əˈtɹækʃn̩/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English attraccioun, borrowed from Old French atraccion and directly Latin attractio (“a drawing together”),[2][3][4] from the past participle stem of attrahere (“to draw, pull”) (see attract).[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In medicine, the drawing of diseased matter to the surface, as by a poultice: about 1400.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The absorption of matter by vessels of the body is from 1533,[5] and inhalation an obsolete sense of 1610.[5] It was extended by about 1600 to magnetic and physical forces (1607 in the OED),[2][5] and magnetic attraction is from 1626.[5] The figurative sense, a quality in a person that draws interest, is from about 1600.[2] A thing that draws a crowd, an interesting exhibition, is from 1829, a sense that developed in English and passed to French.[2] In grammar, a change in a word caused by a neighbouring one is a technical sense.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – in medicine.[2]
  • c. 1600 – personal attraction.[2]
  • 1607 – a physical force.[5]
  • 1626 – magnetic attraction.[5]
  • 1829 – a crowd-pleasing exhibition.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act, power or quality of attracting; charm.
  2. A person, place or thing that attracts, such as an exhibition.
  3. (physics) A force by which one body draws another, such as gravity.

Word family

  • attractionally
  • counterattraction
  • reattraction

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Attraction.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/attraction. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·