retract

Etymology

In the sense to draw back it is inherited from Middle English retracten,^[2][3][4][5] borrowed from Latin retractus (“drawn back”), the past participle of retrahō (“to draw back”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from re- (“back”) and trahō (“to draw”).^[3][7][8] Etymonline also names Old French retracter as a source of this sense.^[4] In the sense to revoke or take back it has a separate source: borrowed from Middle French rétracter and directly borrowed from Latin retractō (“to draw back; to revoke; to handle again”),^[6][7][9][8] from re- and tractō (“to drag, handle”), the frequentative of trahō.^[7][9][3] Barnhart and Etymonline also allow a back-formation from retraction for this sense.^[3][4] The OED, Hoad and the Shorter Oxford keep the two lines apart under separate headwords, while Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage Dictionary give one headword with both Latin sources.^{[6][9][7][5][10]} The OED adds that the senses cover similar ground around the idea of withdrawal and are doubtfully felt as distinct today,^[6] and Barnhart calls the distinction almost artificial in modern English.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To draw something back or in, of the ocean's ebb, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon: the manuscript is dated before 1475 and the translation perhaps before 1425.^[6][2][3] Etymonline says the early 15th century.^[4] The sense to revoke is recorded from 1501, of a decree or promise, in the Acta Dominorum Concilii, and of a statement from 1538, in Elyot's dictionary;^[6] Barnhart and Etymonline date the latter to 1545 or the 1540s.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

From the 16th century the verb of physical drawing back could also mean to hold back or restrain (1548–1740), to take away (about 1570–1728) and, of an army, to retreat (1569–1765).^[6] The now usual use for a part or organ drawn into the body is dated to 1615 by the OED, in Crooke's anatomy,^[6] and to 1664 or the 1660s by Barnhart and Etymonline.^[3][4] It could be used intransitively of such parts from 1784,^[6] of troops as a transitive verb from 1868,^[6] and of an aircraft's undercarriage from 1919.^[6] The sense of unsaying went its own way, adding the intransitive use by 1616, in the sense of going back on one's word, and by 1644, in Milton, in the sense of recanting.^[6] Johnson (1755) put "to recall; to recant" first and "to take back; to resume" second.^[11] From 1777 it was also said of taking back a move at chess, and later a card.^[6] A noun retract, an act of retracting or a retreat, was used in these senses from 1553 to the 17th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – to draw or pull a thing back.^[6][2][3]
• 1501 – to withdraw or revoke a decree or promise.^[6]
• 1538 – to take back a statement as wrong.^[6]
• 1548 – to restrain, hold back (obsolete by 1740).^[6]
• 1569 – to retreat (obsolete by 1765).^[6]
• 1615 – to draw a part or organ into the body.^[6] Barnhart finds this use of claws in 1664.^[3]
• 1644 – intransitive, to recant.^[6]
• 1777 – to take back a move at chess.^[6]
• 1784 – intransitive, to be drawn back or in.^[6]
• 1868 – to pull back troops.^[6]
• 1919 – to draw an aircraft's undercarriage up into its body.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To draw or pull something back or in, especially a part of the body: The tortoise retracted its head into its shell.^[12][5][6]
2. To withdraw a statement, charge or opinion as wrong or unjustified; to recant: The newspaper retracted the story the next day.^[12][10][6]
3. To go back on a promise or agreement.^[12][6]
4. Of a part or mechanism, to be drawn back or in: The wheels retract soon after takeoff.^[10][6]
5. To pull back troops.^[6]
6. To shrink back, as in fear.^[12]
7. To take back a move at chess or a card that has been played.^[6]
8. (phonetics) To draw the tongue back, or to articulate a sound with the tongue drawn back.^[12][10][5]
9. (obsolete, 1548–1740) To hold back; to restrain.^[5][6]
10. (obsolete, 1570–1728) To take away; to remove.^[5][6]
11. (obsolete, 1650–56) To bring a person back.^[5][6]

Word family

• retractability
• retractable
• retractile
• retractor
• retraction

Related words

• retractive
• retreat
• retractation
• tract
• attract
• abstract

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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 d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins