retract

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, Canada, Australian) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈtɹækt/ (General American) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈtɹækt/, /ɹiˈtɹækt/, /ɹəˈtɹækt/ Rhymes: -ækt Hyphenation: re‧tract === Etymology 1 === From Late Middle English retracten, retract (“to absorb, draw in”), from Latin retractus (“withdrawn”), the perfect passive participle of Latin retrahō (“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + trahō (“to drag, pull; to extract, withdraw”). Doublet of retreat. ==== Verb ==== retract (third-person singular simple present retracts, present participle retracting, simple past and past participle retracted) (transitive) To pull (something) back or back inside. Synonym: pull back (specifically, zoology) To draw (an extended body part) back into the body. Antonyms: extend, protrude (rare) To avert (one's eyes or a gaze). (phonetics) To pronounce (a sound, especially a vowel) farther to the back of the vocal tract. (obsolete) To hold back (something); to restrain. (intransitive) To draw back; to draw up; to withdraw. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== nonretraction retraction retractive retreat ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === Partly: from retract (verb) (see etymology 1); and from Late Latin retractus (“a pulling back, retreat; refuge”), from Latin retractus (“withdrawn”), the perfect passive participle of Latin retrahō (“to draw or pull back, withdraw; to bring back; to compel to turn back; to recall; to get back, recover; to hold back, restrain, withhold; to remove, take away; to bring to light again; (Late Latin) to delay”) (see etymology 1) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs). Doublet of retrait, retreat, and ritratto. ==== Noun ==== retract (plural retracts) (obsolete) An act of retracting or withdrawing (a mistake, a statement, etc.); a retraction. A pulling back, especially (military) of an army or military troops; a pull-back, a retreat; also, a signal for this to be done. (group theory) A subgroup of a given group such that there is a surjective endomorphism from the ambient group to the subgroup which is constant on the subgroup; in this case the subgroup is a retract of the ambient group. In symbols: H {\displaystyle H} in G {\displaystyle G} is a retract of G {\displaystyle G} if there exists a surjective homomorphism σ {\displaystyle \sigma } from G {\displaystyle G} to H {\displaystyle H} with σ | H = id {\displaystyle \sigma |_{H}=\operatorname {id} } . (topology) The target of a retraction. Synonym of retreat (“an act of accidentally injuring a horse's foot by incorrectly nailing it during shoeing”). ===== Derived terms ===== deformation retract === Etymology 3 === From Middle French rétracter (“to annul; to reconsider; to withdraw”) (modern French rétracter (“to retract; to contract”)), and from its etymon Latin retractāre, the present active infinitive of retractō (“to retract, withdraw; to annul, revoke; to detract from; to undertake again; to reconsider; to remember; to decline, refuse”), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + tractō (“to drag, haul, tug”) (from trahō (“to drag, pull; to extract, withdraw”) + -tō (frequentative suffix forming verbs)). ==== Verb ==== retract (third-person singular simple present retracts, present participle retracting, simple past and past participle retracted) (transitive) To cancel or take back (something, such as an edict or a favour or grant previously bestowed); to rescind, to revoke. To break or fail to keep (a promise, etc.); to renege. To take back or withdraw (something that has been said or written); to disavow, to repudiate. Synonyms: unsay, (rare) unspeak, walk back, withcall, withdraw; see also Thesaurus:recant Antonyms: affirm, confirm, maintain (games) Originally in chess and now in other games as well: to take back or undo (a move); specifically (card games) to take back or withdraw (a card which has been played). (intransitive) To decline or fail to do something promised; to break one's word. Of something said or written (such as published academic work): to take back or withdraw. (card games, archaic) To change one's mind after declaring an intention to make a certain move. ===== Conjugation ===== ===== Derived terms ===== retracted (adjective) retractile retracting (adjective, noun) retraction retractor ===== Related terms ===== retractate (obsolete) retractation retractative (rare) ===== Translations ===== ===== See also ===== epanorthosis (rhetoric) === References === === Further reading === relative articulation on Wikipedia.Wikipedia retraction (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia