Contractor

How to spell contractor

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce contractor

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does contractor mean?

1. nounA person or company hired under contract to carry out work, especially building, repairs, or supply of services.

Contractor in a sentence

• The contractor promised to finish the kitchen renovation by March.

• We hired an independent contractor to manage the website rather than a full-time employee.

Where does contractor come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb contrahere, meaning 'to draw together' or 'to bring about', formed from con- 'together' and trahere 'to pull or draw'. From it came the noun contractus, 'an agreement', literally a drawing together of parties into a binding deal. English took 'contract' as a noun for such an agreement in the 1300s, and the agent form 'contractor', 'one who enters into a contract', followed in the early 1600s. Over time the word narrowed in everyday speech to mean a person or firm hired to carry out building or supply work under contract. The same trahere root that means 'to pull' also underlies 'tractor', 'attract' and 'extract', and the spelling trap lies in the ending: it is the Latin agent suffix -or, not the more common English -er.

How the word is built

• con- (together)
• tract (draw or pull, from Latin trahere)
• -or (agent noun: one who does)