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attractio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word attractio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century AD, Palladius
Ultimate origin
Latin attrahō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin attraho
Latin attractio
From the same root
Latin attractivus ← attraho

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [atˈtrak.ti.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [atˈtrak.t͡si.o][1]

Forms

attractiō f (genitive attractiōnis); third declension[1] It is also spelled adtractiō.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin attrahō (“to draw towards”) + -tiō, a noun of action made on the past participle stem.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short and Georges cite Varro for it, of one letter drawing another to itself, but the TLL notes that the manuscripts of that passage read other words.[4][5][2] Its first certain author is Palladius, who uses it of the wrinkling of a surface.[2][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Late medical writers use it of drawing in: Caelius Aurelianus of the act of drawing something in, and Vindicianus for the contraction of the sinews and muscles.[2][6] The TLL notes that the ancient grammarians did not use it.[2]

Medieval Latin made it a word of natural philosophy and medicine: Albertus Magnus uses it of a muscle drawing the lip and of a female spider drawing in the male,[7] and it also meant the power of attraction, stretching, crushing and acquisition.[7][8] In British sources it is also an enticement and an appropriation.[9] Conte gives it as the source of Italian attrazione, and English attraction, first recorded about 1400 as a medical term for drawing diseased matter to the surface, comes from it directly and through Old French.[6][3]

Timeline

  • end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century AD – Palladius uses it of wrinkling.[2][5][8]
  • 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it of drawing something in.[2][6][8]
  • 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it of attraction in living things.[7][8]
  • c. 1400 – English attraction is taken from it.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A drawing in or towards oneself.[2][6][1]
  2. A drawing together, contraction (of wrinkles, sinews).[4][2][5]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Attraction, the power of drawing something in.[7][9]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An enticement; an appropriation.[9][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d e Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  9. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Attractio.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/attractio. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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