Etymologically
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contract

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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
  • 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)