Tract Meaning
/tɹækt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn area or expanse.
nounA series of connected body organs, such as the digestive tract.
Sentence Examples
Millions of beneficial organisms live in the human digestive tract.
An endoscopy is used to examine a person's digestive tract.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmer bought a large ____ of land to expand his crops.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The digestive ____ is the series of organs that process food and absorb nutrients into the entire system today.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"the deep tract of hell"
— 1667, 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 as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
"a very high mountain joined to the mainland by a narrow tract of earth"
— 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
"small tracks of ground"
— a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC:
"Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. 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:
"The church clergy at that writ the best collection of tracts against popery that ever appeared."
— 1731, Jonathan Swift, The Presbyterians Plea of Merit:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The farmer bought a large ____ of land to expand his crops.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The digestive ____ is the series of organs that process food and absorb nutrients into the entire system today.