Etymology

retract

re·tract
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Today it means: To pull (something) back or back inside. Full definition →

Middle English retracten ← Latin retractus
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retract · verb1

  1. Latin · derived fromretrahō“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”
  2. Latin · derived fromretractus“withdrawn”
  3. Middle English · inherited fromretracten
  4. English todayretract

From Late Middle English retracten, retract (“to absorb, draw in”), from Latin retractus (“withdrawn”), the perfect passive participle of Latin retrahō (“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + trahō (“to drag, pull; to extract, withdraw”). Doublet of retreat.

retract · noun2

  1. Latin · derived fromretrahō“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”
  2. Latin · derived fromretractus“withdrawn”
  3. Late Latin · derived fromretractus“a pulling back, retreat; refuge”
  4. English todayretract

Partly: * from retract (verb) (see etymology 1); and * from Late Latin retractus (“a pulling back, retreat; refuge”), from Latin retractus (“withdrawn”), the perfect passive participle of Latin retrahō (“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”) (see etymology 1) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Doublet of retrait, retreat, and ritratto.

retract · verb3

  1. Latin · derived fromretractāre
  2. Middle French · derived fromrétracter“to annul; to reconsider; to withdraw”
  3. English todayretract

From Middle French rétracter (“to annul; to reconsider; to withdraw”) (modern French rétracter (“to retract; to contract”)), and from its etymon Latin retractāre, the present active infinitive of retractō (“to retract, withdraw; to annul, revoke; to detract from; to undertake again; to reconsider; to remember; to decline, refuse”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + tractō (“to drag, haul, tug”) (from trahō (“to drag, pull; to extract, withdraw”) + -tō (frequentative suffix forming verbs)).

Words from the same roots

Latinretractus all →

retreat

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.