Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A leaflet or pamphlet containing a declaration or appeal, especially one put out by a religious or political group.
  • noun The verses from Scripture sung after the gradual in the Roman Catholic Mass during penitential seasons such as Lent or as part of a Requiem.
  • noun An expanse of land or water.
  • noun A specified or limited area of land.
  • noun A system of organs and tissues that together perform a specialized function.
  • noun A bundle of nerve fibers having a common origin, termination, and function.
  • noun Archaic A stretch or lapse of time.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Track; footprint.
  • noun Extent; a continued passage or duration; process; lapse: used chiefly in the phrase tract of time.
  • noun Course or route; track; way.
  • noun Course or movement; action.
  • noun Attractive influence; attraction; charm.
  • noun Extent; expanse; hence, a region of indefinite extent; a more or less extended area or stretch of land or water: as, a tract of woodland.
  • noun Trait; lineament; feature.
  • noun In anatomy, an area or expanse; the extension of an organ or a system: as, the digestive or alimentary tract; the optic tract. Also called tractus (which see).
  • noun In ornithology, a pteryla, or feathered place: distinguished from space.
  • noun In heraldry, same as tressure.
  • noun The air-passages collectively.
  • To draw; draw out; protract; waste.
  • To trace; track; follow.
  • To handle; treat.
  • Hence To discourse or treat of; describe; delineate.
  • noun A short treatise, discourse, or dissertation; especially, a brief printed treatise or discourse on some topic of practical religion.
  • noun In the Roman and some other Western liturgies, an anthem consisting of verses from Scripture (generally from the Psalms), sung instead of the Alleluia after the gradual, or instead of the gradual, from Septuagesima till Easter eve: so called from being sung ‘continuously’ (tractim) by the cantor without interruption of other voices. Also tractus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A written discourse or dissertation, generally of short extent; a short treatise, especially on practical religion.
  • noun See Tractarian.
  • transitive verb obsolete To trace out; to track; also, to draw out; to protact.
  • noun Something drawn out or extended; expanse.
  • noun A region or quantity of land or water, of indefinite extent; an area.
  • noun obsolete Traits; features; lineaments.
  • noun obsolete The footprint of a wild beast.
  • noun obsolete Track; trace.
  • noun obsolete Treatment; exposition.
  • noun obsolete Continuity or extension of anything.
  • noun Continued or protracted duration; length; extent.
  • noun (R. C. Ch.) Verses of Scripture sung at Mass, instead of the Alleluia, from Septuagesima Sunday till the Saturday befor Easter; -- so called because sung tractim, or without a break, by one voice, instead of by many as in the antiphons.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb obsolete To pursue, follow; to track.
  • verb obsolete To draw out; to protract.
  • noun An area or expanse of land.
  • noun A series of connected body organs, as in the digestive tract.
  • noun A small booklet such as a pamphlet, often for promotional or informational uses.
  • noun A brief treatise or discourse on a subject of interest.
  • noun A commentator's view or perspective on a subject.
  • noun Continued or protracted duration, length, extent

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an extended area of land
  • noun a brief treatise on a subject of interest; published in the form of a booklet
  • noun a system of body parts that together serve some particular purpose
  • noun a bundle of myelinated nerve fibers following a path through the brain

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English tracte, treatise, probably short for Latin tractātus, from past participle of tractāre, to discuss, frequentative of trahere, to draw.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English tracte, from Medieval Latin tractus, from Latin, a drawing out (from its being an uninterrupted solo); see tract.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, period of time, from Latin tractus, course, space, period of time, from past participle of trahere, to draw.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From tractus, the participle stem of Latin trahere.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From tractus, the perfect passive participle of Latin trahō.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word tract.

Examples

  • This tract is a portion of Tract No. 1 described in Executive Order No. 6408 of November 7, 1933.

    EXECUTIVE ORDER 10268 1951

  • The Beachwood tract is the busiest along shore just now.

    Building Beachwood, Part Three « Beachwood Historical Alliance 2010

  • The tract is direct psalmody — the singing of successive verses of a psalm without refrain, and it is sung in alternation by two halves of the choir.

    What We Learn from Music 2009

  • If a tract is deemed suitable for development, it is listed for sale in a competitive bidding system.

    Obama’s drilling bribe is insultingly small. | RedState 2010

  • Yes | No | Report from matt wasson wrote 4 weeks 2 days ago never seen him at all! this certain tract of land is kinda weird: tons of Agro, a r/r tract and a "rich" subdivison borders around 1000acres that gets hunted serious by everyone around it. yeah could have been real good but you can tell he broke this early on, it has a cool little drop thing ..

    Field & Stream 2010

  • The Beachwood tract is the busiest along shore just now.

    2010 March « Beachwood Historical Alliance 2010

  • The digestive tract is an intricate ballet of organisms, pH, enzymes, nutrients, peptides, and hormones in a dance with its human interface of cells, nerves, blood, lymph, and other fluids.

    Dr. Jeffrey McCombs: God's Hybrid Dr. Jeffrey McCombs 2010

  • The Beachwood tract is the busiest along shore just now.

    2010 March 22 « Beachwood Historical Alliance 2010

  • The Ecosystem of the digestive tract is a harmonious balance of craziness.

    Dr. Jeffrey McCombs: God's Hybrid Dr. Jeffrey McCombs 2010

  • Yes | No | Report from matt wasson wrote 4 weeks 2 days ago never seen him at all! this certain tract of land is kinda weird: tons of Agro, a r/r tract and a "rich" subdivison borders around 1000acres that gets hunted serious by everyone around it. yeah could have been real good but you can tell he broke this early on, it has a cool little drop thing ..

    Field & Stream 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • In addition, tract means to draw, pull along, haul, tow (Oxford English Dictionary).

    August 3, 2011