contraction

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contraction

/kənˈtɹækʃn̩/ UK
/kɒn-/ UK
/kənˈtɹakʃn̩/ British, Southern, Standard
/kɔn-/ British, Southern, Standard
/kənˈtɹækʃ(ə)n/ US
/kənˈtɾakʃn̩/ Scotland
/kɔn-/ Scotland
/kənˈtɾakʃn̩/ Wales
/kɒn-/ Wales

Rhymes with -ækʃən

Where it comes from

PIE word

*ḱóm

From Late Middle English contraccioun, contraxion (“spasm, contraction; constriction, shrinking; act of pressing together”), from Old French contraction (modern French contraction), from Latin contractiō(n) (“a drawing together, contraction; abridgement, shortening; dejection, despondency”), from contrahō (“to draw things together, assemble, collect, gather; to enter into a contract”) + -tiō(n) (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or their results). Contrahō is derived from con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of objects) + trahō (“to drag, pull”) (probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull; to run”)). By surface analysis, contract + -ion (suffix denoting actions or processes, or their results).

noun contractions

countable, uncountable An act of incurring debt; also (generally), an act of acquiring something (generally negative). Our contraction of debt in this quarter has reduced our ability to attract investors.
archaic, countable, uncountable An act of entering into a contract or agreement; specifically, a contract of marriage; a contracting; also (obsolete), a betrothal.
countable, uncountable The process of contracting or becoming infected with a disease. the contraction of malaria
Similar: acquiring, catching
archaic, countable, obsolete, uncountable An abridgement or shortening of writing, etc.; an abstract, a summary; also (uncountable), brevity, conciseness.
Similar: condensation, epitome · Opposite: dilatation, dilation, expansion
countable, uncountable A stage of wound healing during which the wound edges are gradually pulled together.
Opposite: dilatation, dilation, expansion
countable, uncountable A shortening of a muscle during its use; specifically, a strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth. Though occasionally a “flatliner” can be revived with a defib, it is most commonly used to change the uncoordinated contractions of the heart (fibrillation) into a normal sinus rhythm—that is, to defibrillate the heart.
Opposite: dilatation, dilation, expansion
countable, uncountable A period of economic decline or negative growth. The country’s economic contraction was caused by high oil prices.
Opposite: dilatation, dilation, expansion
countable, uncountable A process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme (a word) are reduced or lost, such that it becomes a bound morpheme (a clitic) that attaches phonologically to an adjacent word. In the English words didn’t, that’s, and wanna, the endings -n’t, -’s, and -a arose by contraction.
Opposite: dilatation, dilation, expansion
countable, uncountable A shortened form of a word; in English the omitted letters are often replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark. Don’t is a contraction of do not; and ’til is a contraction of until.
Opposite: dilatation, dilation, expansion
countable, uncountable Synonym of syncope (“the elision or loss of a sound from the interior of a word, especially of a vowel sound with loss of a syllable”).
Similar: syncope · Opposite: dilatation, dilation, expansion
countable, uncountable, of an ideal in the codomain of a ring homomorphism The preimage of the given ideal under the given homomorphism.
Opposite: dilatation, dilation, expansion
broadly, countable, uncountable A shorthand symbol indicating an omission for the purpose of brevity.
Opposite: dilatation, dilation, expansion
countable, obsolete, rare, uncountable An act of collecting or gathering.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: compression, condensation, contracting, shrink, narrowing, shrinkage, deflation, decrease, shrinking, downturn, downsizing, constriction, curtailment, decline, reduction, slowdown

Translations

Every language

noun (sometimes reversible) contracting or reduction in length, scope, size, or volume

Español	contracción
한국어	단축 danchuk
日本語	収縮 shūshuku
中文	收縮 /收缩 shōusuō
Português	contração
Français	contraction
Deutsch	Kontraktion, Abnahme, Abnehmen, Minderung, Schrumpfen, Schrumpfung
Italiano	contrazione
Română	contracție
Русский	сокраще́ние sokraščénije, сжа́тие sžátije
עברית	התכווצות hitkavtzut

noun act of incurring debt; act of acquiring something (generally negative)

Deutsch	Annahme, Erwerb, Infektion, Kontamination

noun process of contracting or becoming infected with a disease

Português	contração
Deutsch	Ansteckung, Erwerb, Infektion

noun stage of wound healing during which the wound edges are gradually pulled together

Deutsch	Kontraktur, Schrumpfung

noun shortening of a muscle during its use

Español	contracción
한국어	위축 wichuk
日本語	攣縮 renshuku
Português	contração, crispação
Français	contraction
Deutsch	Kontraktion, Kontraktur, Anspannung, Einschnürung, Verengung, Verkürzung
Русский	сокраще́ние sokraščénije, сжа́тие sžátije
עברית	התכווצות hitkavtzut

noun strong and often painful shortening of the uterine muscles prior to or during childbirth

Español	contracción
日本語	陣痛 jintsū
Português	contração
Français	contraction
Deutsch	Geburtswehe, Wehe
Русский	сокраще́ние sokraščénije

noun period of economic decline or negative growth

Français	contraction
Deutsch	Abschwung, Rezession, Rückgang, Schrumpfung

noun process whereby one or more sounds of a free morpheme are reduced or lost

Español	contracción
日本語	約音化 yakuon-ka
Português	contração
Français	contraction
Deutsch	Zusammenziehung
Italiano	contrazione

noun shortened form of a word, often with omitted letters replaced by an apostrophe or a diacritical mark

Español	contracción
한국어	단축어 danchugeo
日本語	短縮形 tanshuku-kei
Português	contração
Français	contraction
Deutsch	Kontraktion, Zusammenziehung
Italiano	contrazione
Русский	сокраще́ние sokraščénije, стяже́ние stjažénije

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Cite this

MLA

"contraction." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/contraction. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

contraction. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/contraction

Chicago

"contraction." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/contraction.

BibTeX

@misc{contraction_2026,
  title = {contraction},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/contraction},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}