- tract (1)
- "area," 1494, "period or lapse of time," from L. tractus "track, course, space, duration," lit, "a drawing out or pulling," from stem of trahere "to pull, draw," from PIE base *tragh- "to draw, drag, move" (cf. Slovenian trag "trace, track," M.Ir. tragud "ebb," with variant form *dhragh-; see drag). The meaning "stretch of land or water" is first recorded 1553. Specific U.S. sense of "plot of land for development" is recorded from 1912; tract houses attested from 1963.
- tract (2)
- "little book," 1432, probably a shortened form of L. tractatus "a handling, treatise, treatment," from tractare "to handle" (see treat). Not in any other language, according to OED.