"area," mid-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" (cognates: 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 housing attested from 1953.
tract (n.2)
"little book, treatise" mid-12c., probably a shortened form of Latin tractatus "a handling, treatise, treatment," from tractare "to handle" (see treat (v.)). Related: Tractarian.
双语例句
1. A cold is an infection of the upper respiratory tract.
感冒是上呼吸道的感染。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Water is ideal to flush the kidneys and the urinary tract.
用水清洗肾脏和尿道最理想不过。
来自柯林斯例句
3. She produced a feminist tract, "Comments on Birth-Control", in 1930.