tract n
1. an extended area of land [syn: piece of land, piece of ground, parcel of land, parcel]
2. a system of body parts that together serve some particular purpose
3. a brief treatise on a subject of interest; published in the form of a booklet [syn: pamphlet]
4. a bundle of mylenated nerve fibers following a path through the brain [syn: nerve pathway, nerve tract, pathway]

Tract \Tract\, v. t. To trace out; to track; also, to draw out; to protact. [Obs.] --Spenser. --B. Jonson.

Tract \Tract\, n. [L. tractus a drawing, train, track, course, tract of land, from trahere tractum, to draw. Senses 4 and 5 are perhaps due to confusion with track. See Trace,v., and cf. Tratt.]
1. Something drawn out or extended; expanse. ``The deep tract of hell.'' --Milton.
2. A region or quantity of land or water, of indefinite extent; an area; as, an unexplored tract of sea. A very high mountain joined to the mainland by a narrow tract of earth. --Addison.
3. Traits; features; lineaments. [Obs.] The discovery of a man's self by the tracts of his countenance is a great weakness. --Bacon.
4. The footprint of a wild beast. [Obs.] --Dryden.
5. Track; trace. [Obs.] Efface all tract of its traduction. --Sir T. Browne. But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forthon, Leaving no tract behind. --Shak.
6. Treatment; exposition. [Obs.] --Shak.
7. Continuity or extension of anything; as, the tract of speech. [Obs.] --Older.
8. Continued or protracted duration; length; extent. ``Improved by tract of time.'' --Milton.
9. (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. Syn: Region; district; quarter; essay; treatise; dissertation.

Tract \Tract\, n. [Abbrev.fr. tractate.] A written discourse or dissertation, generally of short extent; a short treatise, especially on practical religion. The church clergy at that time writ the best collection

See more meaning on Tract...

• Tract: Tract may refer to: Land lot , a section of land. Census tract , a geographic region defined for the purpose of taking a census ...
• Tract (literature): A tract is a literary work , and in current usage, usually religious in nature. The notion of what constitutes a tract has changed over ...
• Chick tract: Chick tracts are short evangelical -themed tracts created by American publisher Jack Chick . Chick tracts use a comic book format. ...
• Tract housing: Tract housing (also known as cookie-cutter housing) is a style of housing development in which multiple identical homes are built on a ...
• Tract (liturgy): The tract (Latin : tractus) is part of the proper of the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations , ...
• Vestibulospinal tract: The vestibulospinal tract is one of the descending spinal tracts of the ventromedial pathway. It originates from the vestibular nuclei of ...
• Olfactory tract: The olfactory tract is a bundle of axons connecting the mitral and tufted cells of the olfactory bulb to several target regions in the ...
• Corticospinal tract: The corticospinal or pyramidal tract is a collection of axon s that travel between the cerebral cortex of the brain and the spinal cord ...

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