tractable, a.
(ˈtræktəb(ə)l)
[ad. L. tractābilis, f. tractāre: see tract v.1, and cf. treatable.]
1. That can be easily managed; docile, compliant, manageable, governable. (Of persons and animals, or their dispositions, etc.)
| 1502 W. Atkynson tr. De Imitatione ii. iii. 182 To be conuersaunt with meke, tractable or charitable company. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Mark Pref., The more noble courage and stomacke they be of, the more tractable they are. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. i. 37 Rather with tractable willingnesse to learn, than with sharpnesse of wit. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn. Pestle ii. i, I'm glad the girl Is found so tractable. 1738 Berkeley Let. 11 May, Wks. 1871 IV. 258 You have to do with people of no very easy or tractable spirit. 1832 Scott Woodst. ii, A large wolf-dog,..as tractable as he was strong and bold. 1855 Prescott Philip II, i. ii. (1857) 24 Philip..found the Aragonese legislature by no means so tractable as the Castilian. |
b. Const. to with n. or inf.; in quot. 1651, easily led or persuaded to or to do something.
| 1509 Bp. Fisher Funeral Serm. C'tess Richmond Wks. (E.E.T.S.) I. 291 To god & to the chirche full obedyent & tractable. 1590 Greene Never too late (1600) 82, I..found him not onely guiltie of the crime, but tractable to be reclaimed. c 1645 in Verney Mem. (1907) I. 428 She is witty & very tractable to please. 1651 Baxter Inf. Bapt. 30 They are silly souls, and tractable to novelty. |
† c. transf. of an action, etc. Obs.
| c 1609 in Capt. Smith's Virginia iii. xi. (1624) 89 He had oft brought the Salvages to a tractable trade. 1632 Lithgow Trav. v. 203 Their education to this tractable expedition is admirable. |
2. Of things (usually concrete): Easy to manage, deal with, handle, or work; manageable.
| 1555 Eden Decades 334 This metall [gold] is a body tractable and bryght. 1654 Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Warrs Flanders 57 On which side the ground was more tractable. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 27/1 The Nut Tree..is extremely tractable, and good for most uses. 1898 Pall Mall Mag. May 20 She had a small but exquisitely tractable voice. 1900 E. F. Scott Fourth Gosp. vii. 216 Elements..not wholly tractable to his method of re-interpretation. |
† 3. That can be handled; palpable, tangible.
| 1605 Willet Hexapla Gen. 203 These angels had palpable and tractable bodies. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. iii. iii. 45 The visible and tractable Mater [matter]. 1694 Holder On Time i. 16 The other Measures..are of Continued Quantity, Permanent, and Visible, and for the most part Tractable; whereas Time is always Transient,..neither to be seen, nor felt, nor reserved. |
† 4. That one can ‘do with’ or put up with; tolerable, endurable. Obs.
| 1605 Tryall Chev. v. i. in Bullen O. Pl. (1884) III. 339 As soone As the cool winds haue fand [= fanned] the burning Sunne And made it tractable for travaylers. 1692 Ray Disc. 237 Eternity is the very sting of Hell: take that out, and the Sinner will think it tractable enough. |