Etymograph

English

contract

Contract comes, via Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractus, from contrahō ‘to bring together’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahō1as trahere‘to draw, to pull’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontrahō1‘to bring together; conclude a bargain’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontractus1‘contract’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400contract1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1557contract1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English contract
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1557, Robert Recorde: “But now in eche kinde of these, there are…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahōWiktionary, English contractas trahere‘to draw, to pull’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontrahōWiktionary, English contract‘to bring together; conclude a bargain’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontractusWiktionary, English contract‘contract’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400contractWiktionary, English contract
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1557contractWiktionary, English contract. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1557, Robert Recorde: “But now in eche kinde of these, there are…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with contract, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Latin trahō ‘to draw, to pull’

36 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of contract

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrahōas trahere‘to draw, to pull’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontrahere‘to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontractumpast participle of contrahere
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600contracter
  5. Englishtodaycontract

The verb developed after the noun, and originally meant only "draw together"; the sense "make a contract with" developed later.

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Today it means

noun An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “contract”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin trahō / contract