contract¹

B2 Topic:Business & Commerce

US /ˈkɑntɹækt/ UK /ˈkɒntɹækt/ See IPA manual

noun

Audio for this pronunciation isn’t available yet.

Homographs: contract² /kənˈtɹækt/ — verb

Pronunciation and word origins: Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Freq #1811

Meanings

1
noun
A formal written agreement between people or companies that the law can enforce.
Usage: For the agreement sense, contract is a countable noun. People can sign, renew, or end a contract; its terms set out their agreed responsibilities.

Both companies signed a contract covering the delivery of the new equipment.
Sources and attribution

Adapted from Wiktionary contributors, with original notes and examples. Learning notes are available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Wiktionary: contract
- Wiktionary: traho
The contract clearly states that you cannot work for a competitor.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a formal written agreement... agreement deal

Word family

Forms contractedcontractingcontracts

Appears in

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractus (noun), from contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”) [from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”)] + -tus (suffix forming nouns from verbs).

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Business & Commerce Register & Style

External links

# contract

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɑntɹækt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkɒntɹækt/
**Frequency rank:** 1811

## Meanings
1. A formal written agreement between people or companies that the law can enforce.

## Usage Notes
- A formal written agreement between people or companies that the law can enforce.: For the agreement sense, contract is a countable noun. People can sign, renew, or end a contract; its terms set out their agreed responsibilities.

## Examples
- Both companies signed a contract covering the delivery of the new equipment.
- The contract clearly states that you cannot work for a competitor.

## Synonyms
- agreement
- deal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: trahere - to pull

## Etymology
From Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractus (noun), from contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”) [from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”)] + -tus (suffix forming nouns from verbs).

## Learning Sources
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors, with original notes and examples. Learning notes: [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- [Wiktionary: contract](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/contract?oldid=92068263#English)
- [Wiktionary: traho](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/traho?oldid=92275235#Latin)

## Topics
- Business & Commerce
- Register & Style

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