See Also: tractable(dictionary)
tractable(dictionary)

tractable (iou)



tractable adjective. LME.
[Latin tractabilis, from tractare handle etc., frequentative of trahere draw, drag: see -ABLE. Cf. TREAT verb.]
Capable of contracting, esp. in response to a stimulus. rare. Only in LME.
a. Of a person, animal, etc.: easily managed; docile, compliant, controllable. E16.
G. Orwell Bulls which had always been tractable suddenly turned savage. B. Duffy Thoroughly tractable men trained from boyhood to endure hours of stupefying memorization.
b. Easily led or persuaded to something. Long rare or obsolete. E16.
c. Of a thing: easy to manage or deal with; spec. (of a material) pliant, malleable. M16.
T. S. Eliot Made into something precise, tractable, under control.
That can be handled or felt. Only in 17.
That can be tolerated or endured. Only in 17.
tracta'bility noun the quality of being tractable; manageableness: L15.
tractableness noun tractability M16.
tractably adverb (rare) E17.