ATTRACTION: The Wednesday Word #WednesdayWisdom
noun
DEFINITION:
- the action or power of evoking interest, pleasure, or liking for someone or something.
- a quality or feature that evokes interest, liking, or desire.
- a place which draws visitors by providing something of interest or pleasure.
- a force under the influence of which objects tend to move toward each other.
ETYMOLOGY:
- c. 1400, attraccioun, originally medical, “action or property of drawing (diseased matter) to the surface,” from Old French atraccion (13c.) and directly from Latin attractionem (nominative attractio) “a drawing together,” noun of action from past-participle stem of attrahere “to draw, pull”
- Extended by c. 1600 to magnetic forces; figurative sense “quality in a person which draws interest or imagination” is from c. 1600. Meaning “a thing which draws a crowd, interesting or amusing exhibition” is from 1829, a sense that developed in English and soon transferred to the French equivalent of the word.
- The Latin root word tract means “drag” or “pull.” This root word gives rise to many English vocabulary words, including attraction, subtract, and contract. Perhaps the easiest way to remember this root word is through the English word tractor, for a tractor’s main function is to “drag” or “pull” heavy equipment.
ACTION IDEAS:
- What kind of an attraction are you?
- Who and what are you attracting?
- What diseased matter are you dragging / pulling that you need to let go of?
- What will you replace it with?
