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contract: contract: [14] English acquired the word contract in stages, although in all cases the ultimate source was contractus, the past participle of Latin contrahere, a compound verb formed from the prefix com- ‘together’ and trahere ‘pull, draw’ (source of English traction and tractor). This meant literally ‘pull together’, but it had a variety of metaphorical senses, including ‘bring about’ and ‘enter into an agreement’, and it was the latter which first passed into English via Old French as a noun meaning ‘mutual agreement’.

The arrival of the verb contract did not happen until the 16th century; it developed from an earlier adjective contract, which came again from Old French contract. This introduced a further sense of Latin contrahere; ‘become narrowed, get smaller’.
=> distract, retract, traction, tractor
effect: effect: [14] Etymologically, an effect is that which is ‘accomplished’ or ‘done’. The word comes (probably via Old French effect) from effectus, the past participle of Latin efficere ‘perform, accomplish, complete’, or literally ‘work out’. This was a compound verb formed from the prefix ex- ‘out’ and facēre ‘make, do’ (source of English fact, factory, etc).

The English verbal use, ‘bring about’, is a 16th-century development based on the noun. (The similar affect also comes ultimately from Latin facēre, but with the prefix ad- ‘to’ rather than ex-.) Latin efficere is also the source of English efficacious [16] and efficient [14]. The feck- of feckless is an abbreviated version of effect.
=> efficacious, efficient, fact, factory, fashion, feckless
procure: procure: [13] The -cure of procure goes back to Latin cūrāre ‘look after’, source of English cure. Combination with prō- ‘for’ produced prōcūrāre ‘look after on behalf of someone else, manage’, which English acquired via Old French procurer as procure. The main modern sense ‘obtain’ developed via ‘take care, take pains’ and ‘bring about by taking pains’. The agent noun derived from the Latin verb was prōcūrātor ‘manager, agent’; English adopted this as procurator [13], and subsequently contracted it to proctor [14]. A similar process of contraction lies behind proxy, which goes back to Latin prōcūrātiō.
=> cure, proctor, proxy
chicanery (n.): c. 1600, "legal quibbling, sophistry," from French chicanerie "trickery," from Middle French chicaner "to pettifog, quibble" (15c.), which is of unknown origin, perhaps from Middle Low German schikken "to arrange, bring about," or from the name of a golf-like game once played in Languedoc. Thornton's "American Glossary" has shecoonery (1845), which it describes as probably a corruption of chicanery.
engender (v.): early 14c., "beget, procreate," from Old French engendrer (12c.) "give birth to, beget, bear; cause, bring about," from Latin ingenerare "to implant, engender, produce," from in- "in" (see in- (2)) + generare "beget, create" (see generation). With euphonious -d- in French. Also from early 14c. engendered was used in a theological sense, with reference to Jesus, "derived (from God)." Meaning "cause, produce" is mid-14c. Related: Engendering.
faction (n.1): c. 1500, from Middle French faction (14c.) and directly from Latin factionem (nominative factio) "political party, class of persons," literally "a making or doing," noun of action from past participle stem of facere "to do" (see factitious). In ancient Rome, originally "one of the four teams of contenders for the chariot races in the circus," distinguished by the color of their dress. Later "oligarchy, usurping faction, party seeking by irregular means to bring about a change in government."
A spirit of faction, which is apt to mingle its poison in the deliberations of all bodies of men, will often hurry the persons of whom they are composed into improprieties and excesses for which they would blush in a private capacity. [Hamilton, "The Federalist," No. xv]
factitious (adj.): 1640s, "made by or resulting from art, artificial," from Latin facticius/factitius "artificial," from factus "elaborate, artistic," past participle adjective from facere "to make, do; perform; bring about; endure, suffer; behave; suit, be of service" (source of French faire, Spanish hacer), from PIE root *dhe- "to put, to set, to do" (cognates: Sanskrit dadhati "puts, places;" Avestan dadaiti "he puts;" Old Persian ada "he made;" Hittite dai- "to place;" Greek tithenai "to put, set, place;" Lithuanian deti "to put;" Polish dziać się "to be happening;" Russian delat' "to do;" Old High German tuon, German tun, Old Saxon, Old English don "to do;" Old Frisian dua, Old Swedish duon, Gothic gadeths "a doing;" Old Norse dalidun "they did"). Related: Factitiously; factitiousness.
force (v.): c. 1300, forcen, also forsen, "exert force upon (an adversary)," from Old French forcer "conquer by violence," from force "strength, power, compulsion" (see force (n.)). From early 14c. as "to violate (a woman), to rape." From c. 1400 as "compel by force, constrain (someone to do something)." Meaning "bring about by unusual effort" is from 1550s. Card-playing sense is from 1746 (whist). Related: Forced; forcing.
induce (v.): late 14c., "to lead by persuasions or other influences," from Latin inducere "lead into, bring in, introduce, conduct, persuade," from in- "into, in, on, upon" (see in- (2)) + ducere "to lead" (see duke (n.)). Meaning "to bring about," of concrete situations, etc., is from early 15c.; sense of "to infer by reasoning" is from 1560s. Electro-magnetic sense first recorded 1777. Related: Induced; inducing.
perform (v.): c. 1300, "carry into effect, fulfill, discharge," via Anglo-French performer, altered (by influence of Old French forme "form") from Old French parfornir "to do, carry out, finish, accomplish," from par- "completely" (see per-) + fornir "to provide" (see furnish).

Theatrical/musical sense is from c. 1600. The verb was used with wider senses in Middle English than now, including "to make, construct; produce, bring about;" also "come true" (of dreams), and to performen muche time was "to live long." Related: Performed; performing.
procure (v.): c. 1300, "bring about, cause, effect," from Old French procurer "care for, be occupied with; bring about, cause; acquire, provide" (13c.) and directly from Late Latin procurare "manage, take care of;" from pro- "in behalf of" (see pro-) + curare "care for" (see cure (v.)). Main modern sense "obtain; recruit" (late 14c.) is via "take pains to get" (mid-14c.). Meaning "to obtain (women) for sexual gratification" is attested from c. 1600. Related: Procured; procuring.
purchase (v.): c. 1300, "acquire, obtain; get, receive; procure, provide," also "accomplish or bring about; instigate; cause, contrive, plot; recruit, hire," from Anglo-French purchaser "go after," Old French porchacier "search for, procure; purchase; aim at, strive for, pursue eagerly" (11c., Modern French pourchasser), from pur- "forth" (possibly used here as an intensive prefix; see pur-) + Old French chacier "run after, to hunt, chase" (see chase (v.)).

Originally to obtain or receive as due in any way, including through merit or suffering; specific sense of "acquire for money, pay money for, buy" is from mid-14c., though the word continued to be used for "to get by conquest in war, obtain as booty" up to 17c. Related: Purchased; purchasing.
swing (v.): Old English swingan "beat, strike; scourge, flog; to rush, fling oneself" (strong verb, past tense swang, past participle swungen), from Proto-Germanic *swingan (cognates: Old Saxon, Old High German swingan, Old Frisian swinga, German schwingen "to swing, swingle, oscillate"), from PIE *sweng(w)- "to swing, turn, toss" (perhaps Germanic only).

The meaning "move freely back and forth" is first recorded 1540s. Transitive sense "cause to oscillate" is from 1550s. Sense of "bring about, make happen" is from 1934. Sense of "engage in promiscuous sex" is from 1964; earlier, more generally, "enjoy oneself unconventionally" (1957). Related: Swung; swinging. Swing-voter "independent who often determines the outcome of an election" is from 1966.
tendential (adj.): 1877, from Latin stem of tendency + -al (1). Related: Tendentially.
Tendenziöse is a term that has become very common in Germany to describe the Tübingen criticism, and has arisen from the lengths to which theologians of this school have shown themselves ready to go, to establish the hypothesis that the New Testament writings arose out of conflicting tendencies in the early church and efforts to bring about compromises between these factions. The word has been transferred in the translation under the form "tendential." [translator's preface to "Hermeneutics of the New Testament" by Dr. Abraham Immer, translated by Albert H. Newman, 1877]
acetyltransferase: "Any of a group of enzymes which bring about the transfer of acetyl groups from one molecule to another", 1960s; earliest use found in Journal of Biological Chemistry. From acetyl + transferase.