English
distrait
Distrait comes from Latin distrahō ‘to distract’, and goes back to trahō ‘to drag’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō‘to drag’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistrahō‘to distract’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400destrait
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdistrait
- Englishearliest quotation 1817same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō‘to drag’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdistrahō‘to distract’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400destrait
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdistrait
- Englishearliest quotation 1817same form
Earliest quotation: 1817, Frances Brooke: “But to return to our friend Desmond:—he was too…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- ‘to run, to drag, to pull’
draw, draft, train, drag, retreat, extraction, contraction, draught, abstraction, retract, subtraction, entreat, abstractly, 48 more
through Latin trahō ‘to drag’
contract, treat, attractive, attraction, extract, abstract, portrait, traction, tractor, tract, tram, trattoria, 36 more
Today it means
adj absent-minded, troubled, distracted
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin trahō / distrait