Subtract

How to spell subtract

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce subtract

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does subtract mean?

1. verbTo take one amount or quantity away from another, especially in arithmetic.

Subtract in a sentence

• The accountant had to subtract the deposit from the total bill.

• Children learn to add before they learn to subtract.

Where does subtract come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin verb subtrahere, which literally meant 'to draw away' or 'to pull out from underneath', joining sub- meaning 'under' or 'away' with trahere meaning 'to pull or draw'. The past participle of that verb was subtractus, and it is from this form that the modern English spelling takes its shape, with the 'b' of sub- and the 'tract' of trahere both preserved. English adopted it in the late 1400s, first in arithmetic, where one quantity is literally taken away from another. The same trahere root that survives in 'tract' also gives us a whole family of relatives such as 'attract', 'extract', 'contract', and 'tractor', all of which involve pulling or drawing in some way. Remembering that the 'tract' part means 'drawn away' helps fix the spelling, since the trap is hearing only one clear 't' while two appear in the cluster 'ct'.

How the word is built

• sub- (away, from under)
• tract (drawn or pulled, from Latin trahere)