attraction meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

attraction

noun

UK, US /əˈtɹækʃn̩/

Etymology From Middle English attraccioun, from Old French attraction, from Latin attractio from past participle of attrahō (= ad + trahō), equivalent to attract + -ion.

7 senses

1The tendency to attract.
2The state of being attractive.
3An event, location, or business that has a tendency to…
4The sacrifice of pieces in order to expose the enemy king.
5The feeling of being attracted (to something), that is…
6Sexual or romantic desire (especially for a usually…
7An error in language production that incorrectly extends…

The tendency to attract.

The Moon is held in its orbit by the attraction of the Earth's gravity.

The state of being attractive.

I can't resist his attraction.

An event, location, or business that has a tendency to draw interest from visitors, and in many cases, local residents.

The new mall should be a major attraction.
Star Tours is a very cool Disney World attraction.

Board games, Chess, Games The sacrifice of pieces in order to expose the enemy king.

The feeling of being attracted (to something), that is, being drawn toward it; a desire to be near or involved (in something).

I kept returning there because I felt a strange attraction towards the place.
Our attraction to sugar makes it hard to stop eating it.

1 more example

When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose. And the queerer the cure for those ailings the bigger the attraction. A place like the Right Livers' Rest was bound to draw freaks, same as molasses draws flies.1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter V, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

In particular Sexual or romantic desire (especially for a usually specified individual, kind of person, etc).

I've always had an attraction to blondes.
I don't think my husband has ever acted on any of his attractions.

2 more examples

Murphy struggled with his attraction to men while remaining happily married all his life, daily negotiating the challenges of living in two locations simultaneously. These doublings of desire and emotional attachment left their trace in the multiple doublings within […] the billboard painting he made to signpost the home he created with his wife Sara […]2015 January 23, John Davis, Jennifer A. Greenhill, Jason D. LaFountain, A Companion to American Art, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 255:
"I'm asexual," Yazhiisai said, the words spilling out faster than she intended. "I don't experience attraction the way most people do. I'm telling you this because I don't want there to be any surprises."2024 October 20, Kate, A Love Unspoken, DeepMisti Publication, →ISBN, page 98:

Human sciences, Linguistics, Sciences An error in language production that incorrectly extends a feature from one word in a sentence to another, e.g. when a verb agrees with a noun other than its subject.