English
distract
Distract comes from Latin distractus ‘divided, scattered’, from distrahō ‘to pull apart’, and ultimately from trahō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō‘to pull’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistrahō‘to pull apart’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistractus‘divided, scattered’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1601–1602distract
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō‘to pull’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistrahō‘to pull apart’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistractus‘divided, scattered’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1601–1602distract
Earliest quotation: c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Twelfe Night, or What You Will: “Ol[ivia]. […] Fetch Maluolio hither, / And yet alas,…”.
Linked words
through Latin trahō ‘to pull’
treat, contract, attractive, portrait, attraction, abstract, extract, trait, traction, tractor, tram, retract, trattoria, tractable, 34 more
Today it means
verb To divert the attention of.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin trahō / distract