Etymologically
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suction

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈsʌkʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin sūctiō (“a sucking”),[2][3][4][5][6] which the OED gives simply as Latin,[7] a noun of action from sūctus, the past participle of sūgō (“to suck”).[2][3][8][6] The American Heritage Dictionary traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *seuə-,[3] and it is related to suck.[9][2] The OED compares French succion, suction in Old French.[7] Johnson (1755) derived it from suck, comparing the French word.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The craving of appetite: 1615, in Crooke's Mikrokosmographia, a sense obsolete by 1661.[7] The literal sense, the action of sucking with the mouth, is recorded from 1626, in Bacon's Sylva Sylvarum, the first date in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster.[7][2][8]

Semantic evolution

The physical sense, drawing in a fluid or causing something to stick by producing a partial vacuum, is recorded from 1658,[7][2] or the 1650s in Etymonline.[6] From 1817, in Scott, suction was slang for drinking strong drink;[7][11] Dickens has "power o' suction" in Pickwick Papers.[11] In northern English dialect the word meant drink or liquid.[12] The figurative use dates from 1851, in Hawthorne,[7] and in Scottish mining suction was short for a suction pipe (1886).[7] A verb suction, to remove by suction, is recorded from 1954.[8]

Timeline

  • 1615 – the craving of appetite (obsolete by 1661).[7]
  • 1626 – the act of sucking, in Bacon.[7][2]
  • 1658 – suction by partial vacuum.[7][2]
  • 1817 – slang, drinking.[7][11]
  • 1851 – figurative use.[7]
  • 1886 – a suction pipe.[7]
  • 1954 – verb, to remove by suction.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The act or process of sucking.[13][8][7]
  2. The force produced when air is removed from a space, so that the outside pressure drives a fluid in or holds something to a surface: The pad stays on the glass by suction.[13][8][7]
  3. The act or process of producing such a force.[13][8]
  4. A suction pipe.[7]
  5. (archaic slang) The drinking of alcohol.[4][7][8]

Verb

  1. To remove fluid from a body cavity or passage by suction.[8]

Word family

  • suctional
  • liposuction
  • nonsuction
  • suction cup
  • suction stop

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ 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
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  12. ^ 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)
  13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins