Contraccioun

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Tightening or drawing together into a smaller space ; a word cut down by dropping sounds, as in don't ; an agreement made formally between two sides
2. A process of narrowing or shrinking in size ; a clipped spelling where letters are omitted from a longer word ; a deal or covenant that two parties enter into
3. Shrinking inward so something takes up less space ; a word shortened by dropping letters or sounds ; a binding pact agreed between two parties

Etymology: Middle English "contraccioun" is a spelling of what became "contraction," and its story is mostly one of form rather than meaning. It came into English in the 14th century from Old French "contraction," which itself came from Latin "contractio," meaning a drawing together or a shortening. The Latin noun was formed from "contrahere," "to draw together," built from "com-" ("together") and "trahere" ("to draw"), the same "draw" root that gives English "tractor" and "attract." Early English writers used the word in its literal sense of a shrinking or tightening, such as a muscle drawing up or a material becoming smaller. Its sense of a shortened word, like "can't" for "cannot," developed later, as grammarians applied it to the shortened forms in which two words are run together. The spelling "contraccioun" with its "cc" and "-ioun" ending reflects Anglo-Norman and Middle English practice before the modern spelling settled.