Etymograph

English

attrition

Attrition comes from Latin attrītiō ‘a rubbing against’, from atterō ‘to wear’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ‘to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terh₁-‘to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterō‘to rub’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEatterō‘to wear’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEattrītiō‘a rubbing against’past participle of atterō
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600attricion
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500attricion
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1973attrition

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*terh₁-‘to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEterō‘to rub’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEatterō‘to wear’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEattrītiō‘a rubbing against’past participle of atterō
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600attricion
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500attricion
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1973attrition

Earliest quotation: 1973, United States. Congress. House. Committe, Hearings: “[…] but the heart of the health services in…”

Equivalent to attrit + -ion

Latin attrītus

English attrit

first attested First attested in the 15th century (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in the 15th century, from Middle English attricion, attricioun, from Middle French attricion, attrition and its etymon, Latin attrītiō (‘a rubbing against’), from the verb attrītus, past participle of atterō (‘to wear’), from ad- (‘to, towards’) + terō (‘to rub’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- ‘to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn’

turn, throw, tournament, thread, threshold, tragic, trout, detour, tyrone, thrash, tourney, termite, tourniquet, triage, thresher, tyro, truant, thresh, derma, contrite, 40 more

through Latin terō ‘to rub’

detrimental, detriment, detritus, trite, tribulation, 8 more

Today it means

noun Grinding down or wearing away by friction.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- / attrition

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