Retract comes from Latin retractus, past participle of retrahere ('to draw back'), from re- ('back') + trahere ('to draw, pull'). The prefix supplies the first semantic turn, while the base carries the lexical core of the word. As a verb, it means "to withdraw a statement, or to draw something back in", so the modern sense keeps the older action or relation visible. Relevant historical forms include Latin retrahere, Latin trahere, and Proto-Indo-European *tragʰ-. Derivative forms include retractable, retraction, retractile, retractor; related words include retraction, tractor, extract, contract, attract.