Attract

How to spell attract

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce attract

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does attract mean?

1. verbTo draw something or someone nearer, or to arouse interest, liking, or attention.

Attract in a sentence

• Bright window displays tend to attract more passing shoppers.

• A strong magnet will attract small iron filings across the table.

Where does attract come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb attrahere, meaning 'to draw toward', which was formed from the prefix ad- 'to' and the verb trahere 'to draw or pull'. The past participle of attrahere was attractus, and it is that participle stem that English actually borrowed, which is why the modern word ends in -act rather than -ach. English took the word up in the early 1400s, first in the literal sense of physically drawing something near, as a magnet pulls iron, and then quickly in the figurative sense of drawing people's interest or affection. The same trahere root, meaning to pull, runs through a whole family of English relatives such as 'tractor' (a machine that pulls), 'subtract' (to draw away from below), 'extract' (to draw out) and 'contract' (drawn together). Spelling-wise, the double t at the front is the only real trap: the first t belongs to the assimilated prefix at- while the second begins the tract root.

How the word is built

• at- (variant of ad-: to, toward)
• tract (from Latin trahere: to draw or pull)