Wordwyrt

attrition

/ətˈɹɪʃən/uh-TRIH-shuhn
/ətˈɹɪʃən/uh-TRIH-shuhn

Meaninga rubbing away

Common meaning: wearing down

‘to, towards (form of ad-)’ + ‘to rub, wear away’ → attrition

Journey through time

  1. Latinterō, trīvī, trītum‘to rub, wear away’
  2. Frenchattrition
  3. Englishattrition‘wearing down’ · today

at- also in: attemptattenuateattribute

trit also in: tritecontritedetriment

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin terō ‘to rub, wear away’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry terō, p. 1859 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

contritedetrimenttrite

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