distract

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English distracten,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin distractus,^[2][5][6][7] the past participle of distrahō (“to draw in different directions, pull apart”),^[5][7][6][8] formed from dis- (“apart, away”) and trahō (“to draw, drag”).^[5][7][9][3] The OED notes that, as with many such verbs, the past participle distract was used first, and with distracted probably introduced the verb.^[5] The same Latin verb gives distrait through French,^[5][8] and distraught is an altered form of distract;^[10][11] it is related to tract and trace.^[7][12][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The participle distract, perplexed or confused by thoughts drawn in different directions, is found before 1340 in R. Rolle's Psalter.^[5] The verb, to turn someone or the mind aside, divert, is recorded about 1380 in Wyclif,^[5][7] and the Middle English Dictionary cites Trevisa from about 1398.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“Word Origins” points out that the modern sense, to draw the attention away, is one of the oldest.^[10] The 16th century added "to perplex, bewilder" (1582) and "to divide the attention between different objects" (1597, in Bacon),^[5][7] and the stronger "to drive mad", used by Shakespeare in 1600.^[5][10][7] The literal senses, to pull apart or divide into parts, appear only in the late 16th century and are now rare or obsolete.^[7][5] Johnson (1755) gave "to pull different ways at once" and "to separate; to divide" first.^[13] The sense "mad" survives in distraught,^[10] and in Scots and some English dialects distract could still mean to madden or to go mad.^[14]

Timeline

• before 1340 – participle, confused in mind.^[5]
• c. 1380 – verb, to turn aside, divert.^[5][7]
• 1481 – adjective, deranged, mad (now archaic).^[5]
• 1582 – to perplex or bewilder.^[5][7]
• 1585 – to divide into parts.^[5]
• 1597 – to divide the attention.^[5]
• 1600 – to drive mad.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To draw someone's attention away from what they are doing: The noise outside distracted the students.
2. To divide or confuse someone's attention.
3. To amuse or entertain someone, taking their mind off something.
4. To trouble greatly; to bewilder.
5. (archaic) To make mad.

Adjective

1. (archaic) Mad; insane.

Word family

• distractingly
• distractive
• distractibility
• distracter
• distractible
• distractor

Related words

• distracted
• distraction
• distraught
• distrait
• tract
• attract
• detract
• extract

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ 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)