English
detraction
Detraction comes from Latin dētractiō ‘detraction, slander’, from dētrahō ‘to draw, pull, take or drag off, down or away’, and ultimately from trahō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō‘to drag’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdētrahō‘to draw, pull, take or drag off, down or away’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdētractiō‘detraction, slander’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400detraccion
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500detraction
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1678same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō‘to drag’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdētrahō‘to draw, pull, take or drag off, down or away’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdētractiō‘detraction, slander’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400detraccion
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500detraction
- Englishearliest quotation a. 1678same form
Earliest quotation: a. 1678, Isaac Barrow, (please specify the chapter name or sermon number): “If indeed we consider all the frivolous and petulant…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- ‘to run, to drag, to pull’
draw, train, draft, drag, retreat, draught, distraction, extraction, contraction, abstraction, retract, entreat, subtraction, abstractly, 47 more
through Latin trahō ‘to drag’
treat, contract, portrait, attractive, abstract, extract, trait, attraction, tractor, distract, tram, tract, trattoria, 35 more
Today it means
noun The act of detracting something, or something detracted; taking away; diminution.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin trahō / detraction