retractable

Etymology

It is formed from English retract + -able.^[2][3][4] The verb combines two Latin sources: in the sense "to draw back" it is from Latin retractus, the past participle of retrahō (“to draw back”), and in the sense "to revoke, withdraw" it goes back to retractō (“to reconsider, revoke”), the frequentative of the same verb,^[5][6][7] which is formed from re- (“back”) and trahō (“to draw, drag”).^[5][7] The revised OED enters the adjective twice, according to which sense of the verb it is built on: "that may be disavowed" from the verb meaning "to revoke", recorded slightly later than unretractable, and "that may be drawn in" from the verb meaning "to draw back".^[2] It compares Medieval Latin retractabilis (“tractable, manageable”), found in a 13th-century British source, Anglo-Norman retractable in one isolated 12th-century record, French rétractable (from 1661) and Spanish retractable (1437 or earlier).^[2] The Shorter Oxford derives it from both senses of the verb at once.^[3] A spelling retractible also occurs.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a statement or contract, that may be retracted or disavowed: about 1626, in H. Bisset's Rolment of Courtis.^[2] The 1989 edition of the OED dated this sense to 1620,^[8] and Etymonline to the 1610s.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense belongs to the language of law and argument: a statement, contract or promise that can be taken back.^[2][3] A short-lived use from 1632 to 1672 is unclear; the revised OED takes it as perhaps "governable, tractable", probably under the influence of tractable,^[2] while the 1989 edition had guessed "inclined to be shy or reluctant".^[8] The physical sense, of a part of an animal body or of an object that can be drawn in, is recorded from 1769, in the journal of James Cook's voyage round the world,^[2][4] and the Shorter Oxford dates it to the mid 18th century.^[3] In the 20th century the word was applied to objects with a part that can be drawn back, especially pens (from 1947),^[2] and it came to be used as a noun for such an object (from 1945).^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged illustrates it with retractable wheels and landing gear.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1626 – of a statement or contract, that may be disavowed.^[2]
• 1632 – perhaps governable, tractable (obsolete after 1672).^[2]
• 1769 – of a part of the body or of an object, able to be drawn in.^[2][4]
• 1945 – noun, something that retracts or has a retractable part.^[2]
• 1947 – of an object, especially a pen, allowing a part to be drawn back.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Able to be drawn back or in, as a claw or a mechanical part; retractile: a stadium with a retractable roof.^[9][2][3]
2. Of an object, especially a pen: having a part that can be drawn back inside it.^[2][3]
3. Of a statement, promise or contract: able to be retracted, rescinded or disavowed.^[2][3][4]

Noun

1. Something that retracts or has a retractable part, such as a pen.^[2][1]

Word family

• unretractable
• retractability

Related words

• retract
• retractile
• retraction
• tractable
• retreat
• tract

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster