withdrawal
Meaning
the act of moving or taking something away or back
the act of no longer taking part in an activity or being a member of an organization
the process of stopping taking a drug, which can cause unpleasant physical and mental effects
a statement saying that you no longer believe something you previously said or wrote is true
Structure
Usage
she made a large withdrawal from her bank account.
his sudden withdrawal from the competition surprised everyone.
he experienced severe symptoms during alcohol withdrawal.
Etymology
The word 'withdrawal' is a deverbal noun formed from the verb 'withdraw', which itself originates from the Middle English 'withdrawen'. This verb is a compound of the Old English prefix 'with-', meaning "back" or "away", and the verb 'draw', from Old English 'dragan', meaning "to pull". The literal, physical sense was "to pull back". The noun-forming suffix '-al', of Latin origin via French, was attached to the verb in the early 17th century to create the abstract noun denoting the action or process. The semantic evolution is straightforward: from the concrete act of pulling something back, the meaning expanded to encompass abstract acts of retreat, removal, or disengagement, such as from a place, an activity, or a substance.
Analysis
- with: from old english wiþ (meaning "against, back"). in this compound, it functions as a prefix indicating "back" or "away". - draw: from old english dragan (meaning "to drag, to pull"). it is the core verb root. - al: from latin -alis (adjective-forming suffix), often used in english to form nouns of action from verbs (e.g., arrival, refusal).