attract
pronunciation
How to pronounce attract in British English:
UK [əˈtrækt]
How to pronounce attract in American English:
US [əˈtrækt]
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- Verb:
- direct toward itself or oneself by means of some psychological power or physical attributes
- exert a force on (a body) causing it to approach or prevent it from moving away
- be attractive to
Word Origin
- attract
- attract: [15] Etymologically, attract means literally ‘pull something towards one’. It comes from attract-, the past participial stem of the Latin verb attrahere, a compound formed from the prefix ad- ‘to’ and the verb trahere ‘pull’. It was quite a late formation, of around the mid 15th century, coined on the model of other English verbs, such as abstract and contract, deriving ultimately from Latin trahere.=> abstract, contract, retract, subtract
- attract (v.)
- early 15c., from Latin attractus, past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + trahere "draw" (see tract (n.1)). Originally a medical term for the body's tendency to absorb fluids, nourishment, etc., or for a poultice treatment to "draw out" diseased matter (1560s). Of the ability of people or animals to draw others to them, it is attested from 1560s; of physical forces (magnetism, etc.), from c. 1600 (implied in attraction). Related: Attracted; attracting.
Example
- 1. Do high-price sports cars attract or repel women ?
- 2. The dissenters attract attention , but they are clearly in the minority .
- 3. Sarkozy and merkel are proof positive that opposites attract .
- 4. He and several collaborators reported that red cars attract insects .
- 5. Franklin needed something to get close enough to the clouds to attract the lightning .