Etymology 7: Distract

Coming from the mid-14 century, this words meaning can be taken literally or figuratively, "to draw asunder or apart." It originates from the Latin, "distractus," which comes from "distrahere" which means, "draw in different directions," from dis- "away" + trahere "to draw." There is a sense of "to throw into a state of mind in which one knows not how to act." This meaning came to be in approximately 1582