Word.ws English Dictionary

tract

/tɹækt/

tract noun: an area or expanse.

Noun

tract (plural tracts)

  1. An area or expanse.
    • an unexplored tract of sea
    • the deep tract of hell1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  2. A series of connected body organs, such as the digestive tract.
    Synonyms:
    system
  3. A small booklet such as a pamphlet, often for promotional or informational uses.
  4. A brief treatise or discourse on a subject.
    • The church clergy at that writ the best collection of tracts against popery that ever appeared.1731, Jonathan Swift, The Presbyterians Plea of Merit
  5. A commentator's view or perspective on a subject.
  6. Continued or protracted duration, length, extent
    • improved by tract of time1667, John Milton, “Book V”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    • Nay, in another case of litigation, the unjust Standard bearer, for his own profit, asserting that the cause belonged not to St. Edmund’s Court, but to his in Lailand Hundred, involved us in travellings and innumerable expenses, vexing the servants of St. Edmund for a long tract of time […]1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “ch. XIV, Henry of Essex”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk)
  7. Part of the proper of the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations, used instead of the alleluia during Lenten or pre-Lenten seasons, in a Requiem Mass, and on a few other penitential occasions.
  8. (obsolete) Continuity or extension of anything.
    • in tract of speech1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech
  9. (obsolete) Traits; features; lineaments.
    • The discovery of a man's self by the tracts of his countenance is a great weakness.1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Simulation and Dissimulation”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC
  10. (obsolete) The footprint of a wild animal.
    • The Prophet Telemus […]mark'd the Tracts of every Bird that flew1717, John Dryden [et al.], “Book 13”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  11. (obsolete) Track; trace.
    • Efface all tract of its traduction.1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC
    • But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forth on, / Leaving no tract behind.c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  12. (obsolete) Treatment; exposition.
    • The tract of every thing Would, by a good discourser, lose some life Which action's self was tongue to.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...

Verb (1)

tract (third-person singular simple present tracts, present participle tracting, simple past and past participle tracted)

  1. (obsolete) To pursue, follow; to track.
    • Where may that treachour then (said he) be found, / Or by what meanes may I his footing tract?1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  2. (obsolete) To draw out; to protract.
    • Speak to me , muse , the man , who after Troy was sack'd , Saw many towns and men , and could their manners tract.1616, Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Of The Art of Poetry”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, →OCLC

Verb (2)

tract (third-person singular simple present tracts, present participle tracting, simple past and past participle tracted)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To treat, discourse, negotiate.

tract meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

tract in Hindi

ट्रैक्ट, ट्रेक्ट

tract in Tamil

கட்டுரை, நீர்நிலப்பரப்பு, திணை நிலம், நிலப்பரப்புவெளி, கடுமையான குரல், குழாய்கள் பாட்டை

tract in Marathi

ट्रॅक्ट

tract in Urdu

اقلیم, کتابچہ, قطع, رسالہ
More languagesFewer languages
tract in Bengali
বিস্তার, এলাকা, নির্দিষ্ট সময়, গবেষণামূলক পুস্তিকা
tract in Telugu
సంచిక sañcika, పాయ pāya
tract in Malayalam
പ്രദേശം, പ്രബന്ധം, പരപ്പ്, ഭൂഭാഗം
tract in Kannada
ಹರವು, ಬಯಲು, ಕಯ್ಕಡತ
tract in Punjabi
ਟ੍ਰੈਕਟ, ਟਰੈਕਟ
tract in Gujarati
ટ્રેક્ટ
tract in Odia
ଟ୍ରାକ୍ଟ, ଟ୍ର୍ଯ଼ାକ୍ଟ, ଟ୍ରାକ୍ଟ୍
tract in Sanskrit
स्कन्ध skandhá
tract in Nepali
ट्र्याक्ट, ट्राक्ट
tract in Arabic
جِهَاز jihāz
tract in Persian
دستگاه dastgâh

Examples of tract in a sentence

  • a very high mountain joined to the mainland by a narrow tract of earth1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
  • Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:

All 40 example sentences with tract

Synonyms of tract

Forms of tract

Noun
pluraltracts
Verb
third-person singular presenttracts
present participletracting
past participletracted
pasttracted

Plural of tract: tracts

Origin of tract

From Middle English tract, tracte, traht (“a treatise, exposition, commentary”), from Old English traht, tract (“a treatise, exposition, commentary, text, passage”); and also from Middle English tract, tracte (“an expanse of space or time”); both from Latin tractus (“a haul, drawing, a drawing out”), the perfect passive participle of trahō. Doublet of trait.

From Latin tractus, the participle stem of trahere (“to pull, drag”).

From Latin tractāre, from tractō, from trahō + -tō.

Words formed from tract

Phrases with tract

Words that rhyme with tract

23 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about tract

What does tract mean?
Tract means an area or expanse.
What is tract in Hindi?
Tract in Hindi is ट्रैक्ट, ट्रेक्ट. See Tract meaning in Hindi.
How do you use tract in a sentence?
a very high mountain joined to the mainland by a narrow tract of earth
What part of speech is tract?
Tract can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce tract?
Tract is pronounced /tɹækt/.
What is the plural of tract?
The plural of tract is tracts.

Words near tract in the dictionary

  1. trackydacks
  2. tracon
  3. tracons
  4. tracrRNA
  5. tracrRNAs
  6. tract
  7. tract home
  8. tract homes
  9. tract house
  10. tract houses
  11. tract housing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tract (page history and authors); tract (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tract (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tract (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tract (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tract (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); పాయ (Telugu) (page history and authors); tract (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tract (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); tract (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tract (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tract (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); स्कन्ध (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); tract (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-tract.ogg.

Cite this entry: “tract.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tract. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.