contraction
English
Etymology
From Middle English contraccioun, contraxion, from Old French contraction, from Latin contractiō. Equivalent to contract + -ion.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /kɒnˈtɹæk.ʃən/, /kənˈtɹæk.ʃən/
- (US) IPA(key): /kənˈtɹæk.ʃən/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ækʃən
Noun
contraction (countable and uncountable, plural contractions)
- A reversible reduction in size.
- (economics) A period of economic decline or negative growth.
- The country's economic contraction was caused by high oil prices.
- (biology, medicine) A shortening of a muscle during its use.
- (biology, medicine) A strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth.
- (linguistics) A process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme (a word) are lost or reduced, such that it becomes a bound morpheme (a clitic) that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word.
- In English, didn't, that's, and wanna, the endings -n't, -'s, and -a arose by contraction.
- Hyponyms: elision, apheresis, apocope, syncope
- (English orthography) A word with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe, usually resulting from the above process.
- Don't is a contraction of do not; and 'til is a contraction of until.
- A shorthand symbol indicating an omission for the purpose of brevity.
- The acquisition of something, generally negative.
- Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors.
- (biology, medicine) The process of contracting a disease.
- Synonyms: acquiring, catching
- the contraction of malaria
- 2020 April 8, Dr David Turner, “How railway staff were conduits and victims of a pandemic”, in Rail, page 32:
- Railway workers were therefore a perfect subject for research, given the varied roles they undertook. If infection was greatest among the non-public-facing staff, it would suggest - given most worked outside - that contraction was caused by something found in the "atmosphere at large". If affliction was higher among the indoor and public-facing staff, it would suggest that human contact was the cause.
And it was the latter point that was proven.
- (phonetics) Syncope, the loss of sounds from within a word.
- (biology, medicine) A distinct stage of wound healing, wherein the wound edges are gradually pulled together.
Antonyms
- expansion
- dilatation
Derived terms
- Braxton Hicks contraction
- contractional
- contractionary
- contractionism
- contractionist
- eccentric contraction
- hypercontraction
- lanthanide contraction
- length contraction
- Lorentz contraction
- Lorentz-Fitzgerald contraction
- mutated contraction
- supercontraction
- wanna contraction
Related terms
- contract
- contractation
- contractive
- haustral contraction
Translations
reversible reduction in size
|
economics: period of economic decline or negative growth
|
shortening of a muscle when it is used
|
painful shortening of the uterine muscles
|
linguistics: process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are lost or reduced
|
word with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe
|
medicine: contracting a disease
|
phonetics: loss of sounds from within a word — see syncope
acquisition of something, generally negative
|
medicine: stage of wound healing
|
See also
- omission
- Category:English contractions
contraction on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
French
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin contractio, contractionem.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kɔ̃.tʁak.sjɔ̃/
Audio (Paris) (file) Audio (file)
Noun
contraction f (plural contractions)
- contraction
Related terms
- contracter
- contrat
Further reading
- “contraction”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.