Dictionary

tractile en · ADJ

Pronunciation

/ˈtɹækˌtaɪl/ (General-American)
/-t(ə)l/ (General-American)
/-tl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
/-tɪl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
/ˈtɹæktaɪl/ (Received-Pronunciation)
(Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin tractilis (“that can be dragged or pulled”) + English -ile (suffix meaning ‘capable of; tending to’). Tractilis is derived from Latin tractus + -ilis (suffix forming adjectives from the perfect passive participles of verbs); and tractus is the perfect passive participle of trahō (“to drag, pull; to draw out, extend, lengthen, prolong”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰregʰ- (“to drag, pull; to run”).

Meanings

Capable of being drawn or stretched out in length.
- “Oh, Gas Man, Gas Man, answer me— / My lines are long and tractile— / Which kind of meter would you see, / A spondee or a dactyl?” 1906, Wallace Irwin, “The Poet and the Gas Man”, in Random Rhymes and Odd Numbers, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., →OCLC, page 79:
- Becauſe it [the dormouse] dravveth the hinder legges after it like a Hare, it is called Animal tractile, for it goeth by iumpes and little leapes. 1607, Conradus Gesnerus [i.e., Conrad Gessner]; Edward Topsell, “Of the dormouse”, in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 527:
- Under these conditions starchy components gelatinize, proteins denature and the tractile components are restructured and/or aligned. 1983, R. A. Lawrie, D. A. Ledward, “Texturization of Recovered Proteins”, in D. A. Ledward, A. J. Taylor, R. A. Lawrie, editors, Upgrading Waste for Feeds and Food, London: Butterworths, →ISBN, part III (Manipulation and Modification of Food Waste), page 171:
- The Conſiſtences of Bodies are very diuers: […] Fragile, Tough; Flexible, Inflexible; Tractile, or to be dravvne forth in length, Intractile; […] 1631, Francis [Bacon], “IX. Century. [Experiment Solitary Touching Alterations, which may be Called Maiors.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], 3rd edition, London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC, page 213:
- [H]e carried a piece [of the iron ore] to a blacksmith forge, and ascertained that it was of a very fine, tractile quality: […] 1874, S[eneca] R[ay] Stoddard, “Lake Champlain”, in The Adirondacks: Illustrated, Albany, N.Y.: Weed, Parsons, & Co., →OCLC, page 34:
- Mucus is cohesive and tractile, and is not very adhesive or brittle (even when considerably desiccated) as are the casts commonly referred to as true casts. 1916, B[yron] G. R. Williams, “Microscopic Uranalyses”, in Practical Uranalyses, St. Louis, Mo.: C. V. Mosby Company, →OCLC, page 126:
Pertaining to traction or pulling.
- 1860, Henry David Thoreau, Journal entry dated 25 March, 1860, in Bradford Torrey (ed.), The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal, December 1, 1859–July 31, 1860, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1906, p. 221, The sleighing, the sledding, or sliding, is gone. We now begin to wheel or roll ourselves and commodities along, which requires more tractile power.
- The tractile efforts should be made during the continuance of the labor pains, if the latter are frequent and regular, and suspended in the interval between them. 1880, Henry G. Landis, “Introduction”, in How to Use the Forceps. […], New York, N.Y.: E. B. Treat, […], →OCLC, part II (The Forceps), page 130:
- Kites, which the kind Mr. Benjamin Smith had supplied me with, as a tractile power to assist us in dragging sledges, as well as a means of signalizing between parties, afforded much interest, […] 1852, Sherard Osborn, Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal; or, Eighteen Months in the Polar Regions, in Search of Sir John Franklin’s Expedition, in the Years 1850–51, New York, N.Y.: George P[almer] Putnam, […], →OCLC, page 137:
- I bet that, big as you are, you could not withstand the tractile force of one of my [a mole's] hands. 1989, Primo Levi, “Five Intimate Interviews”, in Raymond Rosenthal, transl., The Mirror Maker: Stories & Essays […], New York, N.Y.: Schocken Books, →ISBN, page 33:
(dated) Capable of being guided, influenced, or led.
- [A]bruptly, his head craned into the limited space between Mrs. Silsburn and me. "Driver," he said peremptorily, and waited for a response. When it came with promptness, his voice became a bit more tractile, democratic: "How long do you think we'll be tied up here?" 1955 November 19, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, “Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters”, in Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, published 1959, →OCLC, page 29:
- To Bribes, unbow'd: yet ductile in Command: / Their Heart, their Country's—and their King's, their Hand, // STILL-but how chang'd! -thus, thus, were Armies taught; / Un-paid, thus tractile; and thus rais'd, un-bought: […] 1743, Aaron Hill, “Canto IV”, in The Fanciad. An Heroic Poem. […], London: […] J. Osborn, →OCLC, page 34, lines 95–98:
- [T]his would re-establish the law of natural selection firmly upon its disputed throne, and so the strong would grow ever stronger and more efficient, and the weak would grow ever more obedient and tractile. 1908, Henry L[ouis] Mencken, “[Nietzsche the Philosopher.] Government.”, in The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, Boston, Mass.: Luce and Company, →OCLC, page 197:
- It appears that shepherds have not changed more than sheep in the process of time. The shy hairy men who herd the tractile flocks might be, except for some added clothing, the very brethren of David. 1903, Mary Austin, “The Mesa Trail”, in The Land of Little Rain, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 156:
(obsolete, rare) Of financial assets: able to be drawn or procured from a place of deposit; liquid.
- Some eight thousand (being late conquest) was liquid and actually tractile in the bank; the rest whirled beyond reach and even sight (save in the mirror of a balance-sheet) under the compelling spell of wizard Pinkerton. 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lloyd Osbourne, “Irons in the Fire. Opes Strepitumque.”, in The Wrecker, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, […], →OCLC, page 118:
- With all other assets that could be made tractile and merchantable, they went to pay Haym Salomon's debts. 1930, Charles Edward Russell, “The Last Gift of All”, in Haym Salomon and the Revolution, New York, N.Y.: Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, page 273:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
most tractile	Degree=Sup		lexicographic
more tractile	Degree=Cmp		lexicographic

tractile en · ADJ

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