Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Distraction

Distraction , noun

[Latin distractio: compare French distraction.]

1.
The act of distracting; a drawing apart; separation.
To create distractions among us. — Bp. Burnet
2.
That which diverts attention; a diversion.
Domestic distractions. — G. Eliot
3.
A diversity of direction; detachment. [Obsolete]
His power went out in such distractions as Beguiled all species. — Shakespeare
4.
State in which the attention is called in different ways; confusion; perplexity.
That ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. — 1 Cor. vii. 35
5.
Confusion of affairs; tumult; disorder; as, political distractions.
Never was known a night of such distraction. — Dryden
6.
Agitation from violent emotions; perturbation of mind; despair.
The distraction of the children, who saw both their parents together, would have melted the hardest heart. — Tatler
7.
Derangement of the mind; madness. — Atterbury