English
retreat
Retreat comes from Middle English retret.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500retret
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605retreat
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500retret
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1604–1605retreat
Earliest quotation: c. 1604–1605, William Shakespeare, All’s Well, that Ends Well: “In a retreat he outruns any lackey.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- ‘to run, to drag, to pull’
draw, train, draft, drag, extraction, contraction, abstraction, draught, subtraction, abstractly, 48 more
through Latin trahō ‘to drag’
contract, attractive, portrait, abstract, extract, attraction, distraction, traction, tractor, distract, tract, trait, tram, trattoria, entreat, 32 more
through Latin retractus ‘withdrawn’
Today it means
noun The act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from something dangerous, or unpleasant.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English retret / retreat