traction

From Medieval Latin tractio, from Latin tractus, perfect passive participle of verb trahere (“pull”), + noun of action suffix -io (genitive -ionis).

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɹæk.ʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ækʃən

traction (usually uncountable, plural tractions)

1. The act of pulling something along a surface using motive power.
   • 1960 January, Iain D. O. Frew, “The Brora Colliery Tramway”, in Railway Magazine, page 57:

     Horse traction was used for all but 23 years of the tramway's life.

2. The condition of being so pulled.
3. Grip.
4. The pulling power of an engine or animal.
5. The adhesive friction of a wheel etc on a surface.
6. (usually after forms of gain, get or have) Progress in or momentum toward achieving a goal, especially in gaining support, recognition, or popularity.
   1. (business) The extent of adoption of a new product or service, typically measured in number of customers or level of revenue achieved.
   2. (politics) Popular support.
   3. (academia) Scholarly interest and research.
      • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 2:

        Despite this somewhat late start, the field of study has gained great traction globally, and since 2015 has even had its own journal: Linguistic Landscape: An International Journal.

7. (medicine) A mechanically applied sustained pull, especially to a limb.
8. (transport) Collectively, the locomotives of a railroad, especially electric locomotives.

• contraction
• subtraction

traction (third-person singular simple present tractions, present participle tractioning, simple past and past participle tractioned)

1. (medicine, transitive) To apply a sustained pull to (a limb, etc.).

• orticant, tacitron

Borrowed from Late Latin tractiōnem, from trahō.

• IPA^(key): /tʁak.sjɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

traction f (plural tractions)

1. traction
2. (gymnastics) pull-up

• système de traction asservie

• attraction
• tracter
• traire

• “traction”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012