| 释义 |
▪ I. tract, n.1|trækt|
Also 5–6 tracte.
[App. abbreviated from L. tractātus tractate; not in any other lang.]
I.
†1. Literary treatment or discussion. Obs. rare.
In some instances difficult to separate from sense 2.
[1432–50: see 2.] 1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 245 It was our part to comprise in few words such things as required a severall tract. 1659Bp. Walton Consid. Considered 14 They do assert and prove the plain contrary, and that not obiter, or by the by, but ex professo, in full tracts.
2. a. A book or written work treating of some particular topic; a treatise; a written or printed discourse or dissertation: = tractate n. 1. Now rare in general sense.
Formerly often applied to what would now be called ‘books’.
1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 257 For cause that a generalle tracte [L. tractatus generalis; Trevisa, tretysis ful and general] of the iiij. principalle realmes afore seide.., dothe require a large processe. Ibid. III. 219 The philosophres that were diuines..laborede and made tractes of God [L. de Deo tractaverunt; Trevisa, þei treted of God]. 1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1663) 84 This present Tract of mine is not made for any ostentation. 1614Raleigh Hist. World ii. (1634) 340 Palastina it selfe is but a Province, as I have noted in the beginning of this Tract. a1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. ii. 69 The scope and end of my business in this Tract. 1825McCulloch Pol. Econ. i. 38 In the course of the seventeenth century, a more than usual number of tracts were published on commercial and economical subjects. 1845― Taxation ii. iv. (1854) 183 Mr. Howlett.. has made some statements in his valuable tract on tithe.
b. Applied to a division of a book or literary work, treating of a separate subject or branch. rare.
1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. iii. §3 Three books they tell us of, which Zertoost received by Revelation, or rather one book, consisting of three severall tracts, whereof the first [etc.]. 1891J. E. H. Thomson Bks. which influenced our Lord i. x. 177 The Mishna is divided into six sections, each of these into ten tracts on an average, or sixty-one in all.
3. a. In later use: A short pamphlet on some religious, political, or other topic, suitable for distribution or for purposes of propaganda.
[1762Gentl. Mag. Nov. 545/2 This little tract affords prescriptions for the soul.] 1806,1816[see c]. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair ix, Whose sister, Lady Emily, wrote those sweet tracts, ‘The Sailor's True Binnacle’, and ‘The Applewoman of Finchley Common’. 1851Kingsley Let. in Life (1879) I. ix. 237 The barbarians..got into their addle pates that we were emissaries of Mazzini and Co. distributing political tracts. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xxx, Whether he only distributes tracts with condescending words. 1885G. Meredith Diana xviii, Am I really as dull as a tract, my dear? 1911A. R. Buckland in Encycl. Brit. XXVII. 177/2 A tract is understood to be brief and rather argumentative than educational. Mod. The British Museum library contains an immense collection of Civil War tracts.
b. Tracts for the Times: the title of a series of pamphlets on theological and ecclesiastical topics (known also as the Oxford Tracts, or simply the Tracts) started by J. H. Newman, and published at Oxford 1833–1841, on the doctrines of which the Tractarian movement was based; also used in sing. with lower-case initials, of any literary work put out to meet a particular need of the times.
The earlier of these were, in accordance with their title, brief pamphlets; but some of the later, e.g. that of Pusey on Baptism, were extended treatises, tracts in sense 2. The aim of the series was ‘to arrest the advance of Liberalism in religious thought, and to revive’ what the writers held to be ‘the true conception of the relation of the Church of England to the Catholic Church at large’ (Churchman's Guide). The last Tract, No. 90, by J. H. Newman, ‘On Certain Passages in the XXXIX Articles’, ‘called forth a storm of reprobation; at the instance of Four Tutors, the Heads of the Oxford Colleges pronounced censure upon the author’, and at the request of the Bishop of Oxford the publication of the Tracts ceased. In the sequel, many who sympathized with the teaching of the Tracts (including at length Newman himself) seceded to the Church of Rome.
1834(title) Tracts for the Times. By Members of the University of Oxford. 1868Sir J. T. Coleridge Mem. Keble xii. (1870) 276 It was Mr. Benson..who gave the authors and favourers of the Tracts the perfectly inoffensive name of Tractarian. 1881Froude Short Stud. Ser. iv. (1883) 175 These were the views which we used to hear when the Tracts were first beginning. 1893Liddon, etc. Life Pusey I. xii. 277 The first Tracts are dated at the beginning of September (1833). They were generally short, several keeping within the suggested limit of four pages: they were chiefly concerned with the constitution, ordinances, and services of the Church. 1927A. H. McNeile Introd. N.T. 95 The Tübingen conception of the book [sc. the Acts of the Apostles] as a tract for the times mediating between the Judaic and the Pauline factions. 1979E. H. Gombrich Sense of Order ii. 41 As a tract for the times the Seven Lamps failed to achieve Ruskin's aim of bringing the conditions of the Middle Ages back to industrialized England.
c. attrib. and Comb., as (in sense 3) tract-distributing adj., tract distribution, tract-led adj., tract society; (in sense 3 b, with capital T) Tract divine, tract doctrine, tract man, tract movement, tract system, tract-writer.
1760Pratt in J. Adams Wks. (1850) II. 97, I should be very sorry to have the Tract Society dissolved. 1806W. L. Bowles Banwell Hill ii. 360 The tract-led Miss, Who trots to every Bethel club. 1816‘Quiz’ Grand Master viii. Argt. 18 Let them, if they perceive impiety, Transmit it to the Tract Society. 1841S. Wilberforce Let. 30 Mar., in Ashwell Life I. vi. 217 You know my dread of the ‘Tract’ doctrine of Reserve. 1843Chr. Lady's Mag. XX. 211 The opinions of Oxford-tract men..upon the divine efficacy of Sacraments. Ibid. 271 The pernicious errors broached.., by the Tract-writers of Oxford. 1846D. Wilson Exp. Lect. Col. ii. 20 note, The Tract divines add to the three essentials required in the XIXth article a fourth. 1869W. P. Mackay Grace & Truth (1875) 43 Tract-distributors and pick-pockets. 1882Ogilvie s.v., In this sense the word is frequently adjectivally used; as, tract society,..tract distribution, etc. 1893Liddon, etc. Life Pusey I. xii. 414 It was natural for the Tract-writers to honour the Fathers of the Church.
II.
†4.
a. Negotiation, treating; a treaty. (Cf. tractate n. 2.)
b. Trade, traffic [cf. Pg. trato dealing, trade]. Obs. rare.
1501in Lett. Rich. III & Hen. VII (Rolls) I. 135 The kinges majestie had sent to him his seal for tract of pais bytwixt his grace and H. 1502Ibid. 147 A tracte of accorde. 1582N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. i. 3 They had beene in the Cayro, and understoode there much newes of Ormuse, and of theyr tract had with and into the Indies.
▪ II. tract, n.2 R.C. Ch.
Also 4–5 tracte, 5 tratt.
[ad. med.L. tractus, q.v. (In Fr. trait.)]
An anthem consisting of verses of Scripture, usually from the Psalms, sung instead of the Alleluia in the mass from Septuagesima till Easter Eve.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 145 When forsoþe it was comen toward þe tracte [L. Cum autem ad versum tractus ventum fuisset] in whiche it is songen, Scitote quoniam Dominus ipse est Deus. c1450in Aungier Syon (1840) 327 From septuagesym in to ester thys tracte Gaude Maria schal be songe at lectren. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 412/1 Gelasyus and Gregory added therto collettis and sange to the lessons and gospellys graylles tracte and alleluya. 1483Cath. Angl. 391/1 A Tracte (A. A Tratt), sistema, tractus. 1546Langley Pol. Verg. De Invent. v. viii. 108 b, The Tract Durandus saieth was deuysed by Teleophorus. 1624Darcie Birth of Heresies xviii. 74 In stead of which Alleluia is sung another song called a tract, with a loud voice, and a protracted note, in a graue kind of Musicke. 1867C. Walker Ritual Reason Why 155 These were called the Tract, from being drawn out (tractus) to a mournful cadence. 1877J. D. Chambers Div. Worship 331 The Tract was usually a mournful Psalm, or part of a Psalm.
▪ III. tract, n.3|trækt|
Also 5–7 tracte, 6 trackte, 6–7 trackt.
[ad. L. tract-us (u-stem), a drawing, dragging, pulling, trailing; a train, track, course, a tract of space or time, course, progress, duration, protraction, f. ppl. stem of trahĕre to draw, drag. In certain senses, this word fell together with trace n.1 and track n., and was sometimes even used in the senses of these words; in others it corresponds with the cognate F. trait, OF. traict, also tract:—L. tractus.]
I.
†1.
a. The drawing out, duration, continuance, process, passing, or lapse of time; the course of time. Cf. L. tractus temporum, F. trait de temps.
1494Fabyan Chron. iii. lvi. 36 This in tracte of tyme made hym welthy. 1575Fenton Gold. Ep. (1577) 6 As tracte of time carryeth with it a lawe of forgetfulnesse of things past. 1651N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xxiv. 109 The Seasons now in tract were of short continuance. 1658Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 946 We conclude this art..to be very ancient, and derived to us by long tract of time. 1676Hale Contempl. i. 294 In the tract of long life a man is sure to meet with more sicknesses. a1734North Exam. i. ii. §30 (1740) 45 Which being perpetually inculcated, in the Tract of a few Years, created in the People prodigious Resentments.
†b. Protraction (of time), deferring, putting off, dilatory proceeding, delay. (Cf. tract v.2 2.)
1503–4Act 19 Hen. VII, c. 28 Preamble, By whiche longe tracte of tyme the seid sueters..shulde be disconforted. 1523Wolsey in Fiddes Life ii. (1726) 76 That no tract or deley bee used therein. 1600Holland Livy xxx. xvi. 751 They sought for nothing else but delaies and tract of time.
c. A space or extent of time, a period. (In later use regarded as transf. from 3.)
1494Fabyan Chron. v. cii. 76 Theodebertus..of his..vncles was greuously warred by longe tracte of tyme. 1524Wolsey in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) I. iv. 53 Considering the tract of time that is requisite. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. V 80 This short tyme and smal tract of my mortal life. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 143 A tract of three hundred sixty and foure yeares. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 169 Waiting for a long tract of serene weather, which may not come. 1850Tennyson In Mem. xlvi. 9 A lifelong tract of time reveal'd. 1853Maurice Proph. & Kings iii. 43 Utterly unlike and separated by tracts of time and space. 1865Palgrave Hymn, ‘Thou say'st, Take up thy cross’ iii, Dim tracts of time divide Those golden days from me.
2. The continuance or continued duration of some action or state; the course or continuity of a narrative, etc.; a continued series. Now rare or Obs.
1581Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 65 The whole tract of a Comedy, shoulde be full of delight. 1599Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 178 Yet tract of affliction, much misery, often over-reaching by subtilty of adversaryes, doth finally purge out those grosse-witted humours. 1632Lithgow Trav. ix. 407 They had wrot the whole tract of his abhominable vices to the Emperour. 1661Feltham Resolves ii. lviii. 307, I do not remember that we read the name of either Dice or Gaming in the tract of either Scripture. 1679Lauderdale Papers (Camden) 261 A long continued tract of violence and oppressione upon ws. 1732Macfarlane Geneal. Collect. (1900) 310 He caused Apprehend and Execute at Crief for a train and tract of Depredations Macobertus Strowanus. 1773Erskine Inst. Law Scotl. i. i. §47 An uniform tract of decisions of the court of session..is..accounted as part of our customary law. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. ix. i. (1872) III. 73 Perhaps a sudden tract of good fortune..would have made me too proud.
3. a. A stretch or extent of territory, etc.; a space or expanse of land (more rarely, of water, air, etc.); a region, district. Cf. L. tractus.
1553Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 8 The narrowe tracte of the Sea by the coastes of Grouelande. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 126 All the Northerne tract of Britaine. 1654Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Warrs Flanders 73 The Ocean first washing the said two Provinces for a long trackt of ground. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 280 This vast tract of land. 1776Toplady Hymn, ‘Rock of ages’ iv, When I soar through tracts unknown. 1814Chalmers Evid. Chr. Revel. x. 278 Those remote tracts beyond the limits of our astronomy. 1834–5J. Phillips Geol. in Encycl. Metrop. VI. 564/2 The great central plateau..is chiefly a granitic and porphyritic tract. 1886Stevenson Kidnapped 120, I spied a tract of water..which..boiled white all over.
fig.1817Chalmers Astron. Disc. iii. (1852) 88 We do think that this lays open a very interesting tract..of most legitimate and sober-minded speculation. 1902F. W. H. Myers Wordsworth viii. 90 Large tracts of it [the Excursion] have little claim to the name of poetry.
b. Nat. Hist., etc. A region or area of some natural structure, as a mineral formation, or the body of an animal or plant; most commonly one extending longitudinally (cf. 8).
spec. (a) Anat. The whole extent of an organ or system of organs, as the alimentary tract or digestive tract, or a continuous longitudinal structure, such as one strand or division of a nerve-cord; esp. applied to particular regions of the brain or spinal cord, as the olfactory tract, optic tract, pyramidal, etc. tracts. Cf. fibre tract s.v. fibre n. 8. (b) Ornith. A feathered area of the skin of a bird (= pteryla), as distinguished from a featherless space.
1681S. Pordage tr. Willis's Remaining Med. Wks.: Treat. No. 4: Anat. of Brain xiii. 101 Out of the same tract of the oblong Marrow, lesser paths are carried outwardly, here and there, by particular Nerves, arising from the same, within the Skull. 1803C. Bell Anat. Human Body III. i. iii. 115 It [sc. the olfactory nerve] takes its origin by three medullary tracts. 1811Pinkerton Petralogy II. 442 This pumice..commonly lies in long tracts, in the direction of which its vesicles are sometimes lengthened. 1841–71T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 437 The probable existence..of distinct tracts of nervous matter in the composition of the central chain of ganglia. 1867Feather-tracts [see pteryla]. 1879St. George's Hosp. Rep. IX. 127 General congestion of the alimentary tract. 1894Newton Dict. Birds s.v. Pterylosis, The principal pterylæ or feathered tracts are as follows:—(1) Spinal tract... (2) Ventral tract... (3) Neck-tract [etc.]. 1959W. Andrew Textbk. Compar. Histol. xiv. 566 As one ascends the vertebrate scale, the bundles of white matter or ‘tracts’ make their appearance running through the gray. 1974M. C. Gerald Pharmacol. x. 189 Ascending nerves transmit sensory impulses up the spinal cord, whereas descending tracts send instructions to effector cells via motor fibers.
attrib.1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 535 The tract fibres of each side must be connected with the anterior cornua on both sides. Ibid. VII. 79 An instance in which a tract degeneration was established.
c. U.S. A plot of land with definite boundaries, esp. one for development; hence, an estate. So tract home, tract house.
1912Oregonian 20 Oct. iv. 6/2 Trading in farm land last week was devoted chiefly to small tracts. There were, however, several large parcels. 1940S. L. McMichael Selling Real Estate (rev. ed.) i. 4 An owner who had a tract of land ripe for development would call in a surveyor. 1954F. L. Wright Natural House i. 108 The plan..was for a housing project on a 100 acre tract near Pittsfield. 1963D. Hughes Expendable Man iii. 72 Raw green tract houses seemed to have taken over the countryside. 1972Tract home [see realty2 4]. 1973N.Y. Law Jrnl. 31 Aug. 1/7 The defendants..were developing a tract with cooperative apartments to be constructed on one part. 1977New Yorker 6 June 99/1 Most of his customers live in tract houses that have tiny bedrooms. 1979Tucson (Arizona) Citizen 20 Sept. 1b/1 The Lopezes gave up a nice home on the Northwest Side on an acre lot for a nice house on a cramped lot in one of the tracts that have sprung up in south Tempe during the last two years. 1980Times Lit. Suppl. 19 Sept. 1020/4 An amiable, moderately licentious fellow who readily settles down..in a newly built tract home.
II.
†4. The action of drawing or pulling (in quots. fig.); attraction. Obs. rare.
1616B. Jonson Devil an Ass ii. ii, He'll ne'r owne mee, But I am taken! the fine tract of it Pulls mee along! 1620J. Pyper tr. Hist. Astrea i. vii. 226 She could feele the tracts of Loue.
†5. Drawing, or tracing (of lines). Obs. rare.
1677Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 22 Lines and figures are better known from mathematical instruction, than by their bare tract as written in dust. 1688R. Holme Armoury i. 19/1 The Ordinaries are made, and formed of Lines diversly composed; And according to the divers Tracts and Forms, of those said Lines, they do receive a divers Shape and variation of Names.
III. A material line drawn: = F. trait (see trait).
†6. Her.: (a) = tressure; (b) = track n. 7.
1486Bk. St. Albans, Her. e vj b, Off tractys in armys. Afore it is sayd of borduris in armys, now it folowith to se of tractis or lynys, and first of a symple tract; and they be calde tractis for as mych as the felde remaynyng of tharmys as wele with in as with owte, & an other lyne is drawyn of an other colowre..to the maner of a shelde. Ibid., He berith asure a playn tract of golde. Ibid. e vij, Thys tract is other wyle dowbull as in tharmys of the kyng of Scottelonde. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry i. v. 17 When the Field and the Circumference or Tract about the same,..be both of one metall, colour or furre, then shall you not terme it a bordure. Ibid. ii. vii. 66, I purpose to present to your view a Three⁓fold Orle or Tract, which doth include the twofold.
†7. A lineament, a feature; = trait 4, 5. Obs.
1606Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. i. Trophies 1101 Th' admired Tracts of a bewitching Face. 1632Lithgow Trav. i. 24 Like to the heauenly tract and resemblance of our blessed Sauiour. 1715tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Wks. 193 His Hair brown, his Tracts all regular, his Teeth fine. 1775C. Johnston Pilgrim 126 To account for some tracts in their national character.
IV. Senses approaching or coinciding with those of track and trace.
8. Course, path, way, route; with of or possessive, the course or path traversed by a person, animal, or moving object: = track n. 3, 4. Now rare or Obs.: usually expressed by track.
(In quot. 1799, applied to a course or channel for water.)
1555Eden Decades 255 Vnderstanding..that if I shulde sayle by the way of the northwest wynde, I shulde by a shorter tracte coomme to India [etc.]. 1616W. Forde Serm. 28 Like a bird in the aire, whose tract the aire closeth. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 170 A loose and flying sand,..accumulated into such heaps as upon any great wind the tract is lost, and passengers (too oft) overwhelmed and stifled. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 201 In the tract of the Manila ship. 1798C. Smith Yng. Philos. IV. 279 Perceiving that in the lane was certainly the most beaten tract, I hurried along it. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 302 When the tract for conveying the water has been once made with judgment, it may remain for centuries. 1823F. Cooper Pioneers v, The tract for the sleighs was much more limited. 1843Nicholson Hist. & Trad. Tales 196, I..will pursue his tract no longer. 1865Alex. Smith Summ. Skye (1880) 143 In Skye one is every now and again coming on the tract of the distinguished travellers.
9. fig. Course (of action, etc.); manner of proceeding, way, path: = track n. 5. rare or Obs.
1566Painter Pal. Pleas. I. Pref. 8 The other prescribeth a directe pathe to treade the tracte of this present life. 1581Lambarde Eiren. ii. ii. (1588) 125 In the Commission of the Peace, they are both conueied vnder this one tracte of speach. 1612Drayton Poly-olb. Pref. A j, A Poeme..whose vnusuall tract may perhaps seeme difficult, to the female Sex. 1632J. Featley Hon. Chast. 19 Let it suffice that I walke in the vulgar tract, and divide sinne onely into originall and actuall. 1677Hale Contempl. ii. 25 In the same path and tract which leads us to Glorifie God, which is our Duty. 1752Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) II. 23 Any particular thought which breaks in upon the regular tract, or chain of ideas. 1834H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xxvii. (1857) 394 Men..who, seeing nothing very knowing in simple honesty, exert their ingenuity in the opposite tract.
10. a. A mark or impression marking the course of a person, animal, or thing; a footprint, trail: = trace n.1 4, 5: cf. track n. 1. Now rare or Obs.; usually expressed by track.
a1547Surrey æneid ii. 920 A blasing sterre, dragging a brand of flame..By a long tract appointing us the way. 1565Jewel Repl. Harding (1611) 151 There appeared..the very tracts and steps of Christs feet. 1585Higins Junius' Nomencl. 390/1 Orbita, the trace, tract, or furrow of a cart wheele. 1595Blanchardyn v. B j b, He had not ridden long, but he perceiued the tracktes & footsteps of a horse. 1607Shakes. Timon i. i. 50 But flies an Eagle flight..Leauing no Tract behinde. 1632J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xiv. (ed. 2) 175 Termes of footing or treading... That of a Fallow Deere [or] Boare is termed Tract or Treading. 1709W. Dampier Voy. III. ii. 35, I saw the Tract of an Alligator here. 1807in Halliwell Life Shaks. (1887) II. 143 There was only one waggon tract along the lane. 1857H. Miller Test. Rocks xi. 435, I was struck..to see how nearly the tract of a small shore crab along the wet sand, resembled them.
†b. = track n. 8. Obs.
1542–3Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII, c. 26 §47 If any goodes..be stolen..thenne upon suite therof hadde and made, the tracte shalbe folowed from Towneshipp to Towneship.
†11. A mark remaining where something has been; an indication, vestige (lit. or fig.): = trace n.1 6. Obs.
1583Golding Calvin on Deut. clxviii. 1040 Wee shall be handled with such rigour as shall make all them to tremble which see but the tracts thereof. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 281 Walles, which, as men may see by their tract, tooke up a mile in circuit. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 225 But no tract therof [of the Labyrinth] remained in the days of Pliny. 1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. x. 37 To obscure the diviner part, and efface all tract of its traduction. 1698J. Crull Muscovy 57 The Ruins appear now in some places six foot high,..the Tract being quite lost in others.
▪ IV. † tract, v.1 Obs.
[ad. L. tractāre to handle, transact, manage, discuss, treat, freq. of trahĕre to draw. Cf. F. traiter, OF. traicter, rarely tracter, to manage, treat (Godef.).]
1. trans. To negotiate: = treat v. 1 b.
1508in Lett. Rich. III & Hen. VII (Rolls) I. 451 The l[ove and kindnes] that have been used in the tracting of our said mariage.
2. To deal with in speech or writing; to discuss or discourse (trans., or intr. with of): = treat v. 2, 2 b.
1529St. Papers Hen. VIII, II. 149 Whiche thinge is not to be tracted, or retracted, till the Parliament. 1552Huloet, Tract or treat of, tracto. 1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 60 The sacraments..haue ane verray highe place in Christiane doctrine, and ar necessarie to be tractit of. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 396 Of all which kinde of traps shall be severally tracted: And first of all those which do catch Mice alive. a1637B. Jonson tr. Horace's Art of Poetry 202 The man, who..Saw many towns and men, and could their manners tract.
3. trans. To behave towards: = treat v. 7.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV 15 b, The Erle..so gently and familiarly used and tracted the vulgare people. Ibid., Rich. III 46 b, Nothinge contented that the erle of Richmonde was in his dominion so vncurteously tracted and entreated.
▪ V. † tract, v.2 Obs.
[f. L. tract-, ppl. stem of trahĕre to draw; cf. attract, contract, extract, etc. f. ppl. stem. In some uses associated with trace v.1 and track v.1 and v.2]
I.
1. trans. To draw, pull along, haul, tow. (Superseded by track v.2)
1523in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 328 All..goods and marchandis as shalbe labored, tracted, and adventured by ony of the inhabitants of this citie..oute of the haven and porte of the same, into ony where else. 1727A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xi. 123 To carry a great Number of Men for tracting them up against the Stream, when the Winds are against them. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) s.v. Tract-scout [= Du. trekschuit], It is usually tracted by a horse. 1769[see tracting below].
2. To lengthen out, prolong, protract (time); to spend or waste in delay; to delay, put off.
1527Knight in Pocock Rec. Ref. I. xxviii. 57 The rivers not being always passable he hath of necessity tracted the time. 1529in Froude Hist. Eng. (1856) I. iii. 192 The causes depending..may..be in such wise tracted and delayed, as your subjects suing in the same shall be put to importable charges. 1579–80North Plutarch (1595) 606 He tracted time, & gaue them leisure to prepare to encounter his force. 1647Lilly Chr. Astrol. xlix. 303 By dallying and tracting the time there shall be trouble.
b. intr. To be drawn out or prolonged, to continue: in pres. pple. protracted, continuous.
1592[see tracting below].
3. fig. To draw on, draw out; to induce.
1615[see tracting below].
II.
4. To go or travel along, tread, pursue (a path): = trace v.1 3. Cf. track v.1 3. (In quots. fig.)
1579Twyne Phisicke agst. Fort. ii. xxxv. 212 This path is but litle tracted. 1613Marston Insatiate Countess i. A ij b, [Death] From whose sterne Caue none tracts a backward path.
5. To pursue or follow up by the footprints or traces; also fig.: = trace v.1 5, track v.1 1.
1577Holinshed Chron. II. 1007/2 In the ende, they brought him to tract the steppes of lewde demeanor. 1590Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 12 By what meanes may I his footing tract? Ibid. vi. 39 As Shepheardes curre..Hath tracted forth some salvage beastes trade [= tread]. 1596Ibid. vi. vii. 3 Well did he tract his steps as he did ryde. 1615E. Hoby Curry-combe To Rdr. 2 Hee that tracts a Fugitiue must take the By-path. 1654R. Flecknoe Ten Years Trav. 43 Which false rumours I tracted from the very Fountain.
6. To draw, delineate: = trace v.1 11.
1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. vi. xviii. (1623) 99 Having seen it [a wall] so tracted in an ancient Chorographicall Chart.
7. intr. ? To border upon. rare—1.
1611Speed Theat. Gt. Brit. xiv. (1614) 27/1 [Of Barkshire] the South neere Kennet doth tract upon Hampshire.
Hence † ˈtracting vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1535Act 27 Hen. VIII, c. 3 Without frustrate or wilfull delaye or tractyng of the tyme. 1592Warner Alb. Eng. vii. xxxvii. (1612) 179, I heard a tracting sound. 1615J. Stephens Ess. & Char., Huntsman (1857) 202 The names of Foxe, Hare, and Bucke, be all tracting sillables; sufficient to furnish fifteen meales with long discourse in the adventures of each. Foxe drawes in his exploits done against Cubbes... Hare brings out his encounters [etc.]. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Tracting, the act of pulling any vessel..along the stream of a canal or river, by means of a rope. |