contraction
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
Topics: biology
communications
economics
human-sciences
journalism
linguistics
literature
media
medicine
natural-sciences
orthography
phonology
prosody
publishing
sciences
writing
Etymology: PIE word
 *ḱóm
From Late Middle English contraccioun, contraxion (“spasm, contraction; constriction, shrinking; act of pressing together”), from Old French contraction (modern French contraction), from Latin contractiō(n) (“a drawing together, contraction; abridgement, shortening; dejection, despondency”), from contrahō (“to draw things together, assemble, collect, gather; to enter into a contract”) + -tiō(n) (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or their results). Contrahō is derived from con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of objects) + trahō (“to drag, pull”) (probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull; to run”)). By surface analysis, contract + -ion (suffix denoting actions or processes, or their results).
Inflected forms:
form: contractions
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors.
gloss: Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
countable
uncountable
gloss: Senses relating to becoming involved with or entering into, especially entering into a contract.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: the contraction of malaria
Railway workers were therefore a perfect subject for research, given the varied roles they undertook. If infection was greatest among the non-public-facing staff, it would suggest – given most worked outside – that contraction was caused by something found in the "atmosphere at large". If affliction was higher among the indoor and public-facing staff, it would suggest that human contact was the cause. And it was the latter point that was proven.
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
countable
obsolete
uncountable
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Though occasionally a “flatliner” can be revived with a defib, it is most commonly used to change the uncoordinated contractions of the heart (fibrillation) into a normal sinus rhythm—that is, to defibrillate the heart.
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: The country’s economic contraction was caused by high oil prices.
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: In the English words didn’t, that’s, and wanna, the endings -n’t, -’s, and -a arose by contraction.
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Don’t is a contraction of do not; and ’til is a contraction of until.
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: broadly
countable
uncountable
gloss: Senses relating to pulling together or shortening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
rare
uncountable
Related words: contract
contractable
contractant
contractation
contracted
contractedly
contractedness
contractee
contractible
contractile
contractility
contracting
contractive
contractly
contractor
contractual
contractually
contractural
contracture
contractured
extract
retract
tractile
traction
omission
Derived words: aftercontraction
anticontraction
Braxton Hicks contraction
cocontraction
concentric contraction
contractional
contractionary
contractionism
contractionist
contractionless
decontraction
eccentric contraction
edge contraction
haustral contraction
hypercontraction
intercontraction
isometric contraction
isotonic contraction
lanthanide contraction
length contraction
Lorentz contraction
Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction
mutated contraction
noncontraction
overcontraction
precontraction
recontraction
supercontraction
vasocontraction
wanna contraction
Translations:
lang: Afrikaans
word: verkleining
lang: Bulgarian
word: скъсяване
roman: skǎsjavane
lang: Bulgarian
word: свиване
roman: svivane
lang: Burmese
word: ချုံ့ခြင်း
roman: hkyum.hkrang:
lang: Burmese
word: ကျုံ့ခြင်း
roman: kyum.hkrang:
lang: Catalan
word: contracció
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 收縮 /收缩
roman: shōusuō
lang: Finnish
word: supistuminen
lang: French
word: contraction
lang: German
word: Kontraktion
lang: German
word: Abnahme
lang: German
word: Abnehmen
lang: German
word: Minderung
lang: German
word: Schrumpfen
lang: German
word: Schrumpfung
lang: German
word: Schwinden
lang: German
word: Schwindung
lang: German
word: Verengung
lang: German
word: Verkleinerung
lang: German
word: Verkürzung
lang: German
word: Zusammenziehung
lang: German
word: Stauchung
lang: Hebrew
word: התכווצות
roman: hitkavtzut
lang: Hungarian
word: összehúzás
lang: Hungarian
word: összehúzódás
lang: Indonesian
word: kontraksi
lang: Italian
word: contrazione
lang: Japanese
word: 収縮
roman: shūshuku
lang: Korean
word: 단축
roman: danchuk
lang: Kyrgyz
word: кыскаруу
roman: kıskaruu
lang: Latin
word: contractiō
lang: Macedonian
word: скрату́вање
roman: skratúvanje
lang: Norwegian
word: kontraksjon
lang: Norwegian
word: forminskning
lang: Occitan
word: contraccion
lang: Portuguese
word: contração
lang: Romanian
word: contracție
lang: Russian
word: сокраще́ние
roman: sokraščénije
lang: Russian
word: сжа́тие
roman: sžátije
lang: Spanish
word: contracción
lang: Swedish
word: kontraktion
lang: Swedish
word: minskning
lang: Tagalog
word: daginsin
lang: Tajik
word: дардгирӣ
roman: dardgiri
lang: Thai
word: การหดตัว
lang: Uzbek
word: qisqarish