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tractable: msg#00018

culture.language.word-of-the-day

Subject: tractable

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The Word of the Day for December 19 is:

tractable \TRAK-tuh-bul\ adjective
*1 : capable of being easily led, taught, or controlled :
docile
2 : easily handled, managed, or wrought : malleable

Example sentence:
Obedience school had turned the Millers' formerly
undisciplined puppy into a tractable family pet.

Did you know?
"Obedient," "docile," and "amenable" are synonyms
of "tractable," but those four words have slightly different
shades of meaning. "Tractable" describes an individual whose
character permits easy handling, while "docile" implies a
predisposition to submit readily to authority. "Obedient" is
often used to describe compliance with authority, although that
compliance is not necessarily offered eagerly. "Amenable," on
the other hand, is usually used when one cooperates out of a
desire to be agreeable. "Tractable" dates from the early 16th
century and derives from the Latin verb "tractare" ("to handle"
or "to treat"). Despite the resemblance, this root did not give
us the noun "tractor" or verbs such as "contract" or "attract"
-- those all derive from a loosely related verb, "trahere" ("to
draw or drag").

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.






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