tract1

[trakt] /trækt/
noun
1.
an expanse or area of land, water, etc.; region; stretch.
2.
Anatomy.
  1. a definite region or area of the body, especially a group, series, or system of related parts or organs:
    the digestive tract.
  2. a bundle of nerve fibers having a common origin and destination.
3.
a stretch or period of time; interval; lapse.
4.
Roman Catholic Church. an anthem consisting of verses of Scripture, sung after the gradual in the Mass from Septuagesima until the day before Easter and on certain other occasions, taking the place of the alleluias and the verse that ordinarily accompany the gradual.
5.
Ornithology. a pteryla.
Origin
1350-1400; (in senses referring to extent of space) < Latin tractus stretch (of space or time), a drawing out, equivalent to trac-, variant stem of trahere to draw + -tus suffix of v. action; (def 4) < Medieval Latin tractus, apparently identical with the above, though literal sense unexplained
Synonyms
1. district, territory.

tract2

[trakt] /trækt/
noun
1.
a brief treatise or pamphlet for general distribution, usually on a religious or political topic.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English tracte, apparently shortening of Medieval Latin tractātus tractate
Synonyms
essay, homily, disquisition.
Examples from the web for tract
  • It may be temporary or permanent, and can result from a variety of problems in the urinary tract.
  • But these probes are clunky and need a wide tract to move through.
  • Chlorine, the active ingredient in conventional laundry bleach, can spur an allergic reaction or irritate your respiratory tract.
  • Your digestive tract is home to about a trillion bacteria.
  • It also acts as a diuretic and can be a urinary tract irritant.
  • Consider uterine fibroids, which are benign tumors of the reproductive tract.
  • The armies of microbes in your digestive tract are so essential to survival that you're a super-organism, a new study says.
  • Car-centered living and ubiquitous tract housing, on the other hand, look more and more absurd.
  • The cloud would outline your skin, delineate your lungs, trace your digestive tract.
  • The mutineers were found in possession of copies of a political tract he had composed.
British Dictionary definitions for tract

tract1

/trækt/
noun
1.
an extended area, as of land
2.
(anatomy) a system of organs, glands, or other tissues that has a particular function: the digestive tract
3.
a bundle of nerve fibres having the same function, origin, and termination: the optic tract
4.
(archaic) an extended period of time
Word Origin
C15: from Latin tractus a stretching out, from trahere to drag

tract2

/trækt/
noun
1.
a treatise or pamphlet, esp a religious or moralistic one
Word Origin
C15: from Latin tractātustractate

tract3

/trækt/
noun
1.
(RC Church) an anthem in some Masses
Word Origin
C14: from Medieval Latin tractus cantus extended song; see tract1
Word Origin and History for tract
n.

"area," late 15c., "period or lapse of time," from Latin tractus "track, course, space, duration," lit, "a drawing out or pulling," from stem of trahere "to pull, draw," from PIE root *tragh- "to draw, drag, move" (cf. Slovenian trag "trace, track," Middle Irish tragud "ebb," perhaps with a variant form *dhragh-; see drag (v.)). The meaning "stretch of land or water" is first recorded 1550s. Specific U.S. sense of "plot of land for development" is recorded from 1912; tract houses attested from 1963.

"little book, treatise" mid-12c., probably a shortened form of Latin tractatus "a handling, treatise, treatment," from tractare "to handle" (see treat). Not in any other language, according to OED.

tract in Medicine

tract (trākt)
n.

  1. An elongated assembly of tissue or organs having a common origin, function, and termination, or a serial arrangement having a common function.

  2. A bundle of nerve fibers having a common origin, termination, and function.

tract in Science
tract
  (trākt)   

  1. A series of body organs that work together to perform a specialized function, such as digestion.

  2. A bundle of nerve fibers, especially in the central nervous system, that begin and end in the same place and share a common function.