distraction
/dɪˈstɹækʃən/dih-STRAK-shuhn
/dɪˈstɹækʃən/dih-STRAK-shuhn
Meaningthe act of pulling apart
Common meaning: something that takes attention away
- disapart, away; not
- tractto pull, dragLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1885 · scan
- ionnoun ending: act or result
‘apart, away’ + ‘to pull, drag’ → distraction
Journey through time
- Latintrahō, trāxī, tractum‘to pull, drag’
- Middle Englishdestratsource
- Englishdistract‘to pull someone's attention away’
- Englishformed in English from distractdistraction‘something that takes attention away’ · today
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: Formed in English from distract + -ion.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), DISTRACT, p.173 · scan
Roots
- trahō, trāxī, tractum Latin “to pull, drag”
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app