attrahent

English

Etymology

From attrahent-, the stem of the Latin attrahēns (“drawing, pulling, or dragging to or toward with force”; “drawing”, “alluring”, “leading”, “bringing”, “moving”, “attracting”), the present active participle of attrahō (“I draw, pull, or drag to or toward with force”; “I draw, allure, lead, bring, move, attract”), on whose perfect passive participial stem the English verb attract is modelled.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ăʹtrəhənt, IPA^(key): /ˈætɹəhənt/

Adjective

attrahent (not comparable)

1. That attracts; drawing, attracting.
   • 1661, Robert Lovell, A Compleat History of Animals and Minerals, page 518:

     The humours, which easily follow the attrahent medicament.

Noun

attrahent (plural attrahents)

1. An attrahent agent; something that attracts.
   • 1665, Joseph Glanvill, Scepsis Scientifica, or Confest Ignorance the Way to Science (2nd ed. of The Vanity of Dogmatizing, 1661), chapter 15, page 127

     The motion of steel to its attrahent.

   • 1786, Ephraim Chambers, “Rees”, in Cyclopædia; or, An Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences:

     Attrahents are the same with what we otherwise call drawers, ripeners, maturantia, etc.

References

• “attrahent, a. and n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]

Latin

Verb

attrahent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of attrahō