distract [ME] The basic sense of distract is ‘pull apart’, from Latin distrahere formed from dis- ‘away, apart’ and trahere ‘draw, pull’ (see train). In has developed various senses since it came into English, although the modern sense ‘distract attention’ is one of the earliest. In the 16th century it could mean ‘perplex’, which developed into ‘drive mad’, used by Shakespeare; these senses survive in distraught [ME], an irregular respelling of the word.