retractio

From retrahō +‎ -tiō.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [rɛˈtrak.ti.oː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [reˈt̪rak.t̪͡s̪i.o]

retractiō f (genitive retractiōnis); third declension

1. a drawing back, retreating
   • c. 15 BCE, Vitruvius, De architectura 3.4.4:

     Retractiones autem graduum nec minus quam sesquipedales nec plus quam bipedales faciendae videntur

     The drawing back of the steps ought to be made not less than a foot and a half, and not more than two feet deep

   1. a diminishing, reduction, decrease
      • c. 431 CE, Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.14.1:

        qui publicanis proferri vel imminui consulto anni dies volebant, modo auctio, modo retractio dierum proveniebat

        who wanted the year to be longer or shorter to suit the tax farmers, saw to it that the number of days in the year, saw now an increase, now a decrease]

   2. hesitation, refusal; reluctance
      • c. 303 CE, Arnobius, Against the Pagans 5.9:

        Nam si nihil esset in re mali, tam gerere illa morem sine ulla retractatione debuerat,

        For if there was nothing wrong in so doing, she should have gratified him without any reluctance,

Third-declension noun.

• English: retraction
• French: rétraction
• Italian: retrazione
• Portuguese: retração
• Romanian: retracție
• Spanish: retracción

• “retractio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “retractio”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• retractio in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2025), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication

• “retractio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• "retractio", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “retractio”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.