traction
Pronunciation
- /ˈtɹæk.ʃən/[1]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Medieval Latin tractiō (“a drawing, pulling”),[2][3][4][5] in Middle English traccioun;[3] the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English allow that it may also be from French traction,[6][7] which the OED records in Middle French once before 1365 and then from the 16th century.[2] The Latin noun is formed on tractus, the past participle of trahō (“to draw, pull, drag”).[2][8][9] In classical Latin tractiō was a grammatical term; in post-classical Latin it meant the drawing of blood (4th century), then from the 13th and 14th centuries the pull of a muscle, attraction, and the pulling of a broken or dislocated bone into place, as in Guy de Chauliac (1363).[2] It is related to tract, tractor and attract.[9][10]
Earliest recorded meaning
In surgery, pulling a dislocated or broken bone back into its proper position: ?a1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.[2][3] Barnhart, who did not have this example, dates the word to 1615.[4]
Semantic evolution
In the 17th century the word was used of the pull of a muscle (1615), of drawing power or attraction (1608, in Middleton) and of pulling or drawing in general (1642).[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as the act of drawing or the state of being drawn.[11] The current senses date from the early 19th century:[7] the drawing of vehicles or loads along a road or rail, from 1803,[2][10] hence traction engine;[10] the grip of a wheel on a surface, recorded by Barnhart from 1825 and by the OED from 1857;[4][2] and the steady pull applied to a broken limb in hospital.[6][12] The figurative sense, the support or interest that lets an idea or product make progress, as in gain traction, is recorded from 1942.[2]
Timeline
- ?a1425 – pulling a bone back into place.[2]
- 1608 – drawing power, attraction (now rare).[2]
- 1615 – the pull of a muscle.[2][4]
- 1642 – pulling or drawing in general.[2]
- 1803 – the hauling of vehicles or loads.[2]
- 1825 – the grip of a wheel (Barnhart).[4]
- 1857 – the grip of a wheel or tyre on a surface (OED).[2]
- 1893 – plural, shares in tramway and railway companies.[2]
- 1942 – support allowing an idea to progress.[2]
Modern meaning
Noun
- The grip of a wheel, tyre or foot on a surface that lets it move without slipping.
- The act of pulling or drawing a load, or the power used for it: steam traction.
- (medicine) A steady pull applied to part of the body with weights and pulleys, to treat a broken bone or dislocation: His leg was in traction for six weeks.
- Support or interest that lets an idea, product or campaign make progress: The proposal is gaining traction.
Word family
- tractional
- tractive
- traction engine
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
- ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins