contract

English

Wikipedia

Etymology 1

From Middle English, from Old French contract, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: kŏn'trăkt
• (RP) IPA: /ˈkɒntrækt/, X-SAMPA: /"kQntr{kt/
• (US) IPA: /ˈkɑntrækt/, X-SAMPA: /"kAntr{kt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

contract (plural contracts)

1. An agreement between two or more parties, to perform a specific job or work order, often temporary or of fixed duration and usually governed by a written agreement.
2. (law) An agreement which the law will enforce in some way. A legally binding contract must contain at least one promise, i.e., a commitment or offer, by an offeror to and accepted by an offeree to do something in the future. A contract is thus executory rather than executed.
3. (law) A part of legal studies dealing with laws and jurisdiction related to contracts.
4. (informal) An order, usually given to a hired assassin, to kill someone.

   The mafia boss put a contract out on the man who betrayed him.

5. The declarer's undertaking to win the number of tricks bid with a stated suit as trump

Hypernyms

• (agreement that is legally binding): agreement

Hyponyms

• (agreement that is legally binding): bailment

Derived terms

• contractual
• fixed-term contract
• contract of employment

Translations

agreement that is legally binding

• Afrikaans: verbintenis (af)
• Bulgarian: договор (bg) m (dogovor)
• Catalan: contracte (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 合同 (hap6 tung4)

  Mandarin: 合同 (cmn) (hetong), 合约 (cmn) (heyue)

• Czech: smlouva (cs) f
• Dutch: contract (nl) n
• Finnish: sopimus (fi)
• French: contrat (fr) m
• German: Vertrag (de) m
• Greek: συμβόλαιο (el) (symbólaio) n 
• Hebrew: חוזה (he) (khozé) m
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: szerződés (hu)
• Indonesian: kontrak (id)

• Italian: contratto (it) m
• Japanese: 契約 (ja) (keiyaku)
• Jèrriais: contrat m
• Latin: foedus (la) n
• Navajo: ałgáádeitʼááh
• Norwegian: kontrakt (no) m
• Polish: umowa (pl) f, kontrakt (pl) m
• Portuguese: contracto m (pt), contrato m (br)
• Romanian: contract (ro)
• Russian: контракт (ru) (kontrákt) m 
• Scottish Gaelic: cùmhnant (gd) m
• Slovene: pogodba (sl) f
• Spanish: contrato (es) m
• Swahili: kandarasi (sw)
• Swedish: avtal n, fördrag c, kontrakt n, överenskommelse c
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

job governed by a specific agreement

• Dutch: contract (nl) n
• Japanese: 契約 (ja) (keiyaku)

• Swahili: kandarasi (sw)
• Swedish: ackord n, beting n, entreprenad c, kontrakt n

part of legal studies

• Finnish: sopimusoikeus (fi)
• German: Vertragsrecht n , Recht der vertraglichen Schuldverhältnisse n

• Japanese: 契約法学 (ja) (keiyaku hōgaku)
• Swahili: makandarasi (sw)

Adjective

contract (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Contracted; affianced; betrothed.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Etymology 2

From Middle English, from Middle French contracter, from Latin contractum, past participle of contrahere (“to bring together, to bring about, to conclude a bargain”), from con- (“with, together”) + trahere (“to draw, to pull”). the verb developed after the noun, and originally meant only "draw together"; the sense "make a contract with" developed later.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kəntrăkt, IPA: /kənˈtrækt/, X-SAMPA: /k@n"tr{kt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Verb

contract (third-person singular simple present contracts, present participle contracting, simple past and past participle contracted)

1. (intransitive) To draw together or nearer; to shorten, narrow, or lessen.

   The snail's body contracted into its shell.

   • Wordsworth

     Years contracting to a moment.

2. (transitive) To enter into a contract with.
3. (intransitive) To make an agreement or contract; to covenant; to agree; to bargain.

   to contract for carrying the mail

4. (transitive) To gain or acquire (an illness).
   • 1999, Davidson C. Umeh, Protect Your Life: A Health Handbook for Law Enforcement Professionals (page 69)

     An officer contracted hepatitis B and died after handling the blood-soaked clothing of a homicide victim […]

Synonyms

• (lessen): abate, decrease, lessen, reduce
• (shorten): shorten, shrink
• (gain or acquire (an illness)): catch, get

Antonyms

• (lessen): increase, expand
• (shorten): grow, lengthen

Translations

intransitive: draw together; shorten; lessen

• Bulgarian: свивам се (bg) (svivam se), съкращавам се (bg) (sǎkraštavam se)
• Catalan: contreure (ca)
• Finnish: vetäytyä (fi), supistua (fi)
• French: se rétracter, se recroqueviller
• Georgian: მიახლოება (ka) (miaxloeba)
• German: zusammenziehen (de), kontrahieren (de)
• Hebrew: התכווץ (he) (hitkavétz)

• Italian: contrarre (it)
• Japanese: 収縮する (ja) (しゅうしゅくする, shūshuku suru)
• Norwegian: sammentrekke, forminske
• Portuguese: contrair-se (pt)
• Spanish: contraer (es)
• Swahili: kandarasi (sw)
• Swedish: dra ihop sig, dras samman, krympa, minskas

transitive: enter into a contract with

• Bulgarian: договарям се (bg) (dogovarjam se)
• Esperanto: kontrakti (eo)
• Finnish: tehdä sopimus
• Japanese: 契約する (ja) (けいやくする, keiyaku suru)

• Romanian: a incheia un contract cu (ro)
• Spanish: contratar (es)
• Swahili: kibarua (sw)
• Swedish: avtala (sv)

gain or acquire (an illness)

• Bulgarian: хващам (bg) (hvaštam)
• Catalan: contreure (ca)
• Finnish: sairastua (fi)
• French: contracter (fr)
• Hebrew: נדבק (he) (nidbák)
• Italian: contrarre (it)

• Japanese: 罹る (ja) (かかる, kakaru)
• Latvian: sasirgt (lv)
• Portuguese: contrair (pt), contagiar-se (pt)
• Spanish: contraer (es)
• Swahili: makandarasi (sw)
• Swedish: smittas av

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Dutch

Noun

contract n (plural contracten, diminutive contractje)

1. contract