tractile

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tractile

/ˈtɹæktaɪl/ UK
/-tl̩/ UK
/-tɪl/ UK
/ˈtɹækˌtaɪl/ US
/-t(ə)l/ US

Where it comes from

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”).

adjective more tractile · most tractile

Capable of being drawn or stretched out in length. 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.
Similar: ductile, tensile · Opposite: intractile, irretractile
Pertaining to traction or pulling. 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, […]
Similar: tractional, tractive
dated Capable of being guided, influenced, or led. 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: […]
Similar: tractable, ductile, fictile, formable, moldable, plastic, sequacious, shapeable, bowsome, buxom, compliant, hearsome
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.

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MLA

"tractile." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tractile. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tractile. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tractile

Chicago

"tractile." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tractile.

BibTeX

@misc{tractile_2026,
  title = {tractile},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tractile},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}