contractant

Borrowed from French contractant (“contracting”), the present participle of contracter (“to contract”). First attested in 1721^[1]. By surface analysis, contract +‎ -ant.

• enPR: kən-trăkt′ənt, kŏn′-
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹækt.ənt/, /kənˈtɹakt.ənt/, (contemporary) /ˈkɒn-/, (conservative) /ˈkɔːn-/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹækt.ənt/, (without the cot–caught merger) /ˈkɔn-/, (cot–caught merger) /ˈkɑn-/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹækt.ənt/, (standard) /ˈkɒn-/, (dialectal) /ˈkɑn-/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹækt.ənt/, /ˈkɔn-/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹɛkt.ənt/, /ˈkɒn-/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /kənˈtɹakt.ənt/, /ˈkɔn-/
• (India) IPA^(key): /konˈʈɾa(ː)kʈ.anʈ/, /ˈkɔn-/
• Rhymes: -æktənt, -ɒntɹæktənt
• Hyphenation: con‧tract‧​ant

contractant (plural contractants)(rare)

1. (chiefly law) A contracting party; one that contracts.
   • 1860, Theodore Dwight Woolsey, Introduction to the Study of International Law‎^[2], third (revised and enlarged) edition, quoted in Century 1911, New York City, NY: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., published 1872, § 191, page 327:

     That trading vessels of any of the contractant, under convoy, shall lodge with the commander of the convoying vessel their passports and certificates or sea-letters, drawn up according to a certain form.

2. (mathematics) Synonym of condensation.^[2]

• “contractant, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “contractant, n.”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “contractant, n.”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volumes I (A–C), New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 1232, column 1.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “contractant, n.”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 1232, column 1.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [kun.tɾəkˈtan]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [kon.tɾəkˈtant]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [kon.tɾakˈtant]
• Rhymes: (Central) -an, (Balearic, Valencia) -ant
• Hyphenation: con‧trac‧tant

contractant

1. gerund of contractar

• IPA^(key): /kɔ̃.tʁak.tɑ̃/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧trac‧tant

contractant

1. present participle of contracter

contractant (feminine contractante, masculine plural contractants, feminine plural contractantes)

1. contracting

• “contractant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Borrowed from French contractant.

contractant m (plural contractanți, feminine equivalent contractantă)

1. contractor

• “contractant”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026