English
subtraction
Subtraction comes from Latin subtrahō ‘to pull out from under’, and goes back to trahō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō‘to pull, drag’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubtrahō‘to pull out from under’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsubtractioas subtractio
- Englishtodaysubtraction
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō‘to pull, drag’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEsubtrahō‘to pull out from under’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsubtractioas subtractio
- Englishtodaysubtraction
Formed from subtract + -ion
Latin subtrahō ‘to draw from beneath’
Latin subtractus ‘removed, withdrawn, subtracted, taken away’
English subtract
The story
Can be decomposed to subtract + -ion.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- ‘to run, to drag, to pull’
draw, train, draft, drag, retreat, distraction, draught, extraction, contraction, abstraction, retract, entreat, abstractly, 48 more
through Latin trahō ‘to pull, drag’
treat, contract, portrait, attractive, abstract, extract, trait, attraction, tractor, distract, tram, tract, trattoria, 35 more
Today it means
noun The process of subtracting a number from another.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin trahō / subtraction