Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Tract \Tract\, v. t.
   To trace out; to track; also, to draw out; to protact. [Obs.]
   --Spenser. --B. Jonson.

Tract \Tract\, n. [L. tractus a drawing, train, track, course,
   tract of land, from trahere tractum, to draw. Senses 4 and 5
   are perhaps due to confusion with track. See {Trace},v., and
   cf. {Tratt}.]
   1. Something drawn out or extended; expanse. ``The deep tract
      of hell.'' --Milton.

   2. A region or quantity of land or water, of indefinite
      extent; an area; as, an unexplored tract of sea.

            A very high mountain joined to the mainland by a
            narrow tract of earth.                --Addison.

   3. Traits; features; lineaments. [Obs.]

            The discovery of a man's self by the tracts of his
            countenance is a great weakness.      --Bacon.

   4. The footprint of a wild beast. [Obs.] --Dryden.

   5. Track; trace. [Obs.]

            Efface all tract of its traduction.   --Sir T.
                                                  Browne.

            But flies an eagle flight, bold, and forthon,
            Leaving no tract behind.              --Shak.

   6. Treatment; exposition. [Obs.] --Shak.

   7. Continuity or extension of anything; as, the tract of
      speech. [Obs.] --Older.

   8. Continued or protracted duration; length; extent.
      ``Improved by tract of time.'' --Milton.

   9. (R. C. Ch.) Verses of Scripture sung at Mass, instead of
      the Alleluia, from Septuagesima Sunday till the Saturday
      befor Easter; -- so called because sung tractim, or
      without a break, by one voice, instead of by many as in
      the antiphons.

   Syn: Region; district; quarter; essay; treatise;
        dissertation.

Tract \Tract\, n. [Abbrev.fr. tractate.]
   A written discourse or dissertation, generally of short
   extent; a short treatise, especially on practical religion.

         The church clergy at that time writ the best collection
         of tracts against popery that ever appeared. --Swift.

   {Tracts for the Times}. See {Tractarian}.

Source : WordNet®

tract
     n 1: an extended area of land [syn: {piece of land}, {piece of
          ground}, {parcel of land}, {parcel}]
     2: a system of body parts that together serve some particular
        purpose
     3: a brief treatise on a subject of interest; published in the
        form of a booklet [syn: {pamphlet}]
     4: a bundle of mylenated nerve fibers following a path through
        the brain [syn: {nerve pathway}, {nerve tract}, {pathway}]