Contractio, onis, f. g. Verbale. A shrinking or gathering togither: a shortning. vt Contractio neruorum. Plin. Shrinking of sinewes.Contractio frontis.Cic.Frowning.Digitorum contractio facilis.Cic.Contractio & productio, contraria.Cic.Brachij proiectio in contentionibus, contractio in remissis.Cic.The pulling in of the arme.Superciliorum remissio & concractio.Cic.Contractio paginæ.Cic.The sinalnesse of the leafe.Effusio animi in lætiria, in dolore contractio.Cic.Sadnesse of minde: thought.
Lewis and Short: Latin dictionary
contractĭo, ōnis, f. [contraho], a drawing together, contraction (in good prose; most freq. in Cic.). I.Lit.: contractio et porrectio digitorum, Cic. N. D. 2, 60, 150: bracchii (opp. projectio), id. Or. 18, 59: superciliorum (opp. remissio), id. Off. 1, 41, 146: frontis, id. Sest. 8, 19: umerorum (opp. allevatio), Quint. 11, 3, 83: nervorum,
a contraction, cramp
, Scrib. Comp. 255; without nervorum, Plin. 20, 17, 73, 191: bonorum, i. e. consolidation, Gai Inst. 2, 155.—Hence, B.Transf., an abridging, shortening, abridgment, shortness: paginae, Cic. Att. 5, 4, 4: syllabae, shortening in pronunciation (opp. productio), id. de Or. 3, 50, 196: orationis (opp. longitudo), id. Part. Or. 6, 19.— II.Trop.: animi in dolore, dejection, undue depression, despondency (opp. effusio animi in laetitiā), Cic. Tusc. 4, 31, 66; cf. id. ib. 4, 6, 14: animos demittunt et contrahunt; v. contraho, II. B.