attraction English · revision 7744

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1400|origins=la attraho}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈtɹækʃn̩/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English attraccioun, [[bor|fro|atraccion]] and directly Latin [[m|la|attractio|t=a drawing together]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from the past participle stem of [[m|la|attraho|alt=attrahere|t=to draw, pull]] (see [[attract]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In medicine, the drawing of diseased matter to the surface, as by a poultice: about 1400.^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The absorption of matter by vessels of the body is from 1533,^(OED 1989) and inhalation an obsolete sense of 1610.^(OED 1989) It was extended by about 1600 to magnetic and physical forces (1607 in the OED),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and ''magnetic attraction'' is from 1626.^(OED 1989) The figurative sense, a quality in a person that draws interest, is from about 1600.^(Etymonline) A thing that draws a crowd, an interesting exhibition, is from 1829, a sense that developed in English and passed to French.^(Etymonline) In grammar, a change in a word caused by a neighbouring one is a technical sense.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1400 – in medicine.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – personal attraction.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1607 – a physical force.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1626 – magnetic attraction.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1829 – a crowd-pleasing exhibition.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act, power or quality of [[attract|alt=attracting]]; [[charm]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person, place or thing that attracts, such as an [[exhibition]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(physics)'' A force by which one body draws another, such as [[gravity]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[attractionally]]

+ * [[counterattraction]]

+ * [[reattraction]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[attract]]

+ * [[attractive]]

+ * [[tractor]]

+ * [[traction]]

+ * [[contract]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}