English
attract
Attract comes from Latin attrahere ‘to draw to, attract’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEattrahere‘to draw to, attract’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEattractuspast participle of attrahere
- Englishearliest quotation 1667attract
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEattrahere‘to draw to, attract’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEattractuspast participle of attrahere
- Englishearliest quotation 1667attract
Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book V: “Attracted by thy beauty still to gaze.”
A compound of ad ‘to’ + trahere ‘to draw’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’
Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’
Latin ad ‘to’
Proto-Indo-European *-ǵʰ-
Latin trahō ‘to draw’
Every English word from Latin attrahere
Today it means
verb To pull toward without touching.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin attrahere / attract