contract

Pronunciation

• IPA: noun: UK /ˈkɒn.trækt/, US /ˈkɑːn.trækt/; verb: /kənˈtrækt/^[1]

Etymology

The noun is inherited from Middle English contract,^[2] borrowed from Old French contract (modern contrat),^[3][4] a learned borrowing from Latin contractus (“a drawing together; a contract, agreement”),^[3][4] from the past participle of contrahere (“to draw together, collect; to make a bargain”),^[3][4][2] from con- “together” and trahere “to draw”, the source of tract and train.^[4][3][5] The verb comes partly from an earlier participle and adjective contract, “contracted, incurred” (1390, in Chaucer), from Latin contractus,^[4][6] and partly from Middle French contracter.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, “an agreement between persons”, originally especially of marriage: before 1333,^[4] the early 14th century;^[3] the OED's first example is from about 1386.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The verb meant “to make an agreement” from probably before 1425,^[4] the early 15th century.^[3] The physical sense, “to draw together, shrink”, is first recorded before 1398, usually of the shrunken look of paralyzed limbs,^[4] and Etymonline dates the intransitive “to become smaller” to the late 14th century.^[3] “To acquire, become infected with” is from the 1590s,^[3] as in contract a disease or contract debts.^[6] The grammatical sense, “to shorten a word”, is from about 1600.^[3] A business agreement to supply goods or do work is from 1602,^[7] and the document containing an agreement from the 1610s.^[3] In bridge, a contract is from 1908,^[7] and in American underworld slang an arrangement to kill someone from 1940.^[3][7] The adjective, “hired under contract”, as in contract killer, is from 1936.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1333 – noun, an agreement.^[4]
• 1390 – participle, contracted, incurred.^[4]
• before 1398 – verb, to draw together.^[4]
• before 1425 – verb, to make an agreement.^[4]
• 1590s – to catch (a disease).^[3]
• 1602 – a business contract.^[7]
• 1610s – the written document.^[3]
• 1908 – a contract in bridge.^[7]
• 1940 – an arrangement to kill.^[3][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A formal agreement between two or more parties, especially one enforceable by law; the document recording it.
2. The branch of law dealing with such agreements.
3. (bridge) The final bid, the number of tricks a side undertakes to win.
4. (slang) An arrangement to have someone killed.

Verb

1. To make smaller or shorter; to shrink.
2. To enter into a formal agreement; to arrange by contract.
3. To catch (a disease) or incur (a debt).
4. (grammar) To shorten (a word) by leaving out sounds or letters.

Word family

• contractibility
• contractible
• contractee
• contractibly
• contractual
• noncontract
• precontract
• subcontract

Related words

• contraction
• contractor
• tract
• traction
• attract
• subtract
• train

Usage notes

The noun is stressed on the first syllable and the verb usually on the second.^[1][8] Johnson noted that the noun was anciently accented on the second syllable.^[9] In Scotland a contract was a couple's application for the proclamation of their banns, and a formal betrothal before witnesses.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)