Attraccioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act or force of pulling something toward oneself or toward another object ; the quality that causes someone to feel drawn to a person, place or thing
2. A pulling force that brings things closer together ; a charm or appeal that makes a person or thing seem desirable and interesting
3. The drawing power that moves objects toward one another ; the appeal that makes someone feel strongly inclined toward a person or thing

Etymology: "Attraccioun" is Middle English, the form of the word "attraction" that Chaucer and his contemporaries would have used. It comes from Late Latin "attractio," a noun formed from "attrahere," meaning "to draw toward," which combines "ad-" ("to") with "trahere" ("to draw"). The Latin verb was built on the same root that gives English "tractor" and "traction," so the word's core idea has always been physical pulling. Its earliest English uses were literal. Writers used the term for the drawing of liquids and for the physical pull of bodies, and it was applied to the influence of the stars and planets over earthly things. The sense of an appealing quality that draws a person toward something came later, and the modern meaning of charm or allure grew out of this older idea of being pulled.