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What is the difference between track and tract?

track | tract |

Tract is a synonym of track.



As nouns the difference between track and tract

is that track is a mark left by something that has passed along; as, the track, or wake, of a ship; the track of a meteor; the track of a sled or a wheel while tract is an area or expanse.

As verbs the difference between track and tract

is that track is to observe the (measured) state of an object over time while tract is to pursue, follow; to track.

track

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A mark left by something that has passed along; as, the track, or wake, of a ship; the track of a meteor; the track of a sled or a wheel.
  • A mark or impression left by the foot, either of man or beast; trace; vestige; footprint.
  • The entire lower surface of the foot; said of birds, etc.
  • A road; a beaten path.
  • Course; way; as, the track of a comet.
  • A path or course laid out for a race, for exercise, etc.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track . The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.}}
  • (railways) The permanent way; the rails.
  • A tract or area, as of land.
  • * Fuller
  • small tracks of ground
  • (automotive) The distance between two opposite wheels on a same axletree (also track width)
  • (automotive) Short for caterpillar track.
  • (cricket) The pitch.
  • Sound stored on a record.
  • The physical track on a record.
  • (music) A song or other relatively short piece of music, on a record, separated from others by a short silence
  • Circular (never-ending) data storage unit on a side of magnetic or optical disk, divided into sectors.
  • (uncountable, sports) The racing events of track and field; track and field in general.
  • A session talk on a conference.
  • Synonyms

    * (mark left by something that has passed along) trace, trail, wake * (mark or impression left by the foot) footprint * (entire lower surface of the foot) * path, road, way * (course) course, path, trajectory, way * course, racetrack * (the permanent way) rails, railway, train tracks, tracks * (tract or area) area, parcel, region, tract * (distance between two opposite wheels) track width * ground, pitch * (sound stored on a record) recording * (physical track on a record) groove * (circular data storage unit on a side of magnetic or optical disk) * (track and field) athletics, track and field

    Derived terms

    * * album track * beaten track * fast track * half-track * half-tracker * lose track * mid-track * mommy track * off the beaten track * on the right track * on track * one-track mind * railroad track * railway track * reserved track * tenure-track * title track * track and field * trackball * track-mounted * trackpad * track record * track spike * track width * train track * tram track

    See also

    * path * trail

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To observe the (measured) state of an object over time
  • To monitor the movement of a person or object.
  • To discover the location of a person or object (usually in the form track down ).
  • To follow the tracks of.
  • My uncle spent all day tracking the deer.
  • To leave in the form of tracks.
  • In winter, my cat tracks mud all over the house.

    Synonyms

    * (observe the state of an object over time) monitor * (monitor the movement of a person or object) follow * (discover the location of a person or object) find, locate, trace, track down

    Derived terms

    * track down * tracking shot

    tract

    English

    Etymology 1

    From tractus, the perfect passive participle of (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An area or expanse.
  • an unexplored tract of sea
  • * Milton
  • the deep tract of hell
  • * Addison
  • a very high mountain joined to the mainland by a narrow tract of earth
  • A series of connected body organs, as in the digestive tract .
  • A small booklet such as a pamphlet, often for promotional or informational uses.
  • A brief treatise or discourse on a subject.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • The church clergy at that writ the best collection of tracts against popery that ever appeared.
  • A commentator's view or perspective on a subject.
  • Continued or protracted duration, length, extent
  • * Milton
  • improved by tract of time
  • * 1843 ,
  • Nay, in another case of litigation, the unjust Standard bearer, for his own profit, asserting that the cause belonged not to St. Edmund’s Court, but to his in , involved us in travellings and innumerable expenses, vexing the servants of St. Edmund for a long tract of time
  • Part of the proper of the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist for many Christian denominations, used instead of the alleluia during Lenten or pre-Lenten seasons, in a Requiem Mass, and on a few other penitential occasions.
  • (obsolete) Continuity or extension of anything.
  • the tract of speech
    (Older)
  • (obsolete) Traits; features; lineaments.
  • * Francis Bacon
  • The discovery of a man's self by the tracts of his countenance is a great weakness.
  • (obsolete) The footprint of a wild animal.
  • (Dryden)
  • (obsolete) Track; trace.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
  • Efface all tract of its traduction.
  • * Shakespeare
  • But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forth on, / Leaving no tract behind.
  • (obsolete) Treatment; exposition.
  • (Shakespeare)

    Etymology 2

    From tractus , the participle stem of (etyl) trahere.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete) To pursue, follow; to track.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.i:
  • Where may that treachour then (said he) be found, / Or by what meanes may I his footing tract ?
  • (obsolete) To draw out; to protract.
  • (Ben Jonson)
    English syncopic forms ----