distraction English · revision 39806

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1430|origins=la distrahō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /dɪsˈtɹæk.ʃən/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|distractiō|t=a pulling apart, separation]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) a noun of action formed on [[m|la|distractus]], the past participle of [[m|la|distrahō|t=to pull asunder, draw in different directions]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) the verb behind [[distract]].^(Etymonline)^(ODE 2010) The OED compares [[m|fr|distraction]], recorded in Old French from 1335,^(OED 2026) and the Shorter Oxford allows that the English word may have come through French as well as directly from Latin;^(SOED 2002) Dictionary.com also names an Anglo-French intermediary.^(Dictionary.com 2016)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OED dates the word to 1430,^(OED 2026) and Etymonline dates it to the mid-15th century, as ''distraccioun'', in the sense of drawing the mind away from one thing to another.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster gives the 15th century for its first sense, the act of distracting or the state of being distracted.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries the word kept the literal Latin idea of pulling apart: the forcible separation or severing of things is recorded from 1581 to 1856,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) and short-lived uses for a divided part (in Shakespeare's ''Antony and Cleopatra''), for scattering (1618) and for violent stretching (c1720) are now obsolete.^(OED 2026) The mental senses grew alongside: diversion of the mind or attention is recorded from 1526,^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) being torn between conflicting forces or feelings from 1602, in ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'',^(OED 2026) and the confusion of a community split by faction from 1642, in a declaration of Charles I.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) Etymonline dates the sense of mental confusion or bewilderment to the 1590s.^(Etymonline) Shakespeare also used it for violent agitation of mind close to madness, the source of ''to distraction'' and ''drive to distraction'',^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and in his Sonnets (1609) for madness itself, a sense that died out by the end of the 18th century.^(OED 2026)^(HTOED) Something that diverts the attention is recorded from 1606,^(OED 2026) and as an amusement or entertainment from 1859.^(HTOED) Johnson (1755) gave the senses separation, confusion of attention, perturbation of mind and madness.^(Johnson 1755) Later technical senses include the resolution of a long vowel into two in Homeric Greek (1891) and the drawing apart of surfaces in surgery (1901).^(OED 2026) In Devon dialect ''distraction'' was used for arithmetical subtraction, recorded in the ''Gentleman's Magazine'' in 1733.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1430 – first recorded.^(OED 2026)

+ * mid-15th century – ''distraccioun'', drawing the mind away.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1526 – diversion of the mind or attention.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1581 – a pulling asunder; forcible separation (until 1856).^(OED 2026)

+ * 1602 – being pulled in different directions by conflicting forces or feelings.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1606 – something that distracts the attention.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1609 – madness (obsolete by 1794).^(OED 2026)

+ * a1616 – violent agitation of mind, as in ''to distraction''.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1642 – disorder in a state caused by dissension.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1859 – an amusement or entertainment.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of drawing someone's [[attention]] away from what they are doing, or the state of having one's attention drawn away.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Something that draws the attention away; an [[interruption]] or obstacle to [[concentration]]: ''The noise from the road was a constant distraction.''^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Something that amuses or [[divert|alt=diverts]]; an [[entertainment]] or [[pastime]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # Great agitation or disturbance of mind, especially in ''to distraction'': ''The delays drove the passengers to distraction.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[distractive]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[distracter]]

+ * [[distract]]

+ * [[attract]]

+ * [[subtract]]

+ * [[tractor]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}