Protracted

How to spell protracted

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce protracted

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does protracted mean?

1. adjectiveLasting much longer than expected or desired; drawn out over time.

Protracted in a sentence

• After a protracted negotiation, both companies finally signed the deal.

• The patient faced a protracted recovery that lasted several months.

Where does protracted come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb protrahere, which combined pro, meaning 'forward' or 'onward', with trahere, meaning 'to draw' or 'to pull'. Literally it described pulling something forward or dragging it out, and in Roman usage it could mean to prolong, to delay, or even to bring something into the open. English took the past participle stem protract, and by the sixteenth century 'protract' meant to draw out in time, with 'protracted' settling into its modern role as an adjective for anything that drags on far longer than expected. The same trahere root that gives the spelling its central -tract- also lies behind a whole family of familiar words such as 'attract', 'subtract', 'contract', and 'tractor', all of which involve some sense of drawing or pulling. Remembering that core tract piece is the key to the spelling: it is built on pull, not on any softer ending.

How the word is built

• pro- (forward, onward)
• tract (from trahere: to draw or pull)
• -ed (past participle/adjective suffix)