Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TRACT, n. [L. tractus; It. tratto; Fr. trait; from L. traho, Fr. traire, to draw.]

1. Something drawn out or extended.
2. A region, or quantity of land or water, of indefinite extent. We may apply tract to the sandy and barren desert of Syria and Arabia, or to the narrow vales of Italy and Sardinia. We say, a rich tract of land in Connecticut or Ohio, a stony tract, or a mountainous tract. We apply tract to a single farm, or to a township or state.
3. A treatise; a written discourse or dissertation of indefinite length, but generally not of great extent.
4. In hunting, the trace or footing of a wild beast. Cyc.
5. Treatment; exposition. [Not in use.] Shak.
6. Track. [Not in use.]
7. Continuity or extension of any thing; as, a tract of speech. [Not much used.]
8. Continued or protracted duration; length; extent; as, a long tract of time. Milton.