English
contractant
Contractant comes from French contractant ‘contracting’, and goes back to Latin contractus.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontractus
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcontracter‘to contract’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentcontractant‘contracting’present participle of contracter
- Englishearliest quotation 1860same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontractus
- Frenchc. 1600–presentcontracter‘to contract’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentcontractant‘contracting’present participle of contracter
- Englishearliest quotation 1860same form
Earliest quotation: 1860, Theodore Dwight Woolsey, Introduction to the Study of International Law: “That trading vessels of any of the contractant, under…”
Equivalent to contract + -ant
Latin trahō ‘to draw, to pull’
Latin contrahō ‘to bring together; conclude a bargain’
Latin contractus ‘contract’
Old French contract
English contract
first attested First attested in 1721 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in 1721.
Every English word from Latin contractus
Today it means
noun A contracting party; one that contracts.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin contractus / contractant