tract
noun
[ trakt ]
• an area of land, typically a large one.
• "large tracts of natural forest"
Similar:
area,
region,
expanse,
span,
sweep,
stretch,
extent,
belt,
swathe,
zone,
plot,
patch,
parcel,
portion,
section,
sector,
quarter,
territory,
estate,
acreage,
allotment,
• a major passage in the body, large bundle of nerve fibres, or other continuous elongated anatomical structure or region.
• "the digestive tract"
Origin:
late Middle English (in the sense ‘duration or course of time’): from Latin tractus ‘drawing, draught’, from trahere ‘draw, pull’.
tract
noun
• a short treatise in pamphlet form, typically on a religious subject.
Similar:
treatise,
essay,
article,
paper,
monograph,
disquisition,
dissertation,
thesis,
exposition,
study,
piece of writing,
lecture,
homily,
sermon,
work,
pamphlet,
booklet,
leaflet,
brochure,
Origin:
late Middle English (denoting a written work treating a particular topic), apparently an abbreviation of Latin tractatus (see tractate). The current sense dates from the early 19th century.
tract
noun
• (in the Roman Catholic Church) an anthem of Scriptural verses formerly replacing the alleluia in certain penitential and requiem Masses.
Origin:
late Middle English: from medieval Latin tractus (cantus) ‘drawn-out (song)’, past participle of Latin trahere ‘draw’.
