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Glite Dictionary
📜 A Talmud section 📖 A formal work
tractate

tractate

1 9.9
A named book in the Talmud or other Jewish writings that covers a religious topic
  • noun
  • /ˈtrækteɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tractado
  • The special vow to consecrate oneself to God was not generally approved of by the rabbis, as evidenced by Tractate Nazir.
  • Tractate Nedarim
  • Tractate Nazir

Examples

  • Babylonian Talmud, tractate Chullin, page 92A: Ulla taught:

    Blog text (18)

  • The Talmud, the Yebamoth Tractate, I forget what page.

    Yentl (1983)

  • The rabbis are engaged in a discussion of prayer; it seems fitting for a tractate named for Blessings.

    Blog text (15)

  • This book coexisted in peace with the sixty-three tractates of the Talmud.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Tractate Nedarim makes this abundantly clear and is, we now see, the logical follow-up to Ketubot.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Rabbinic literature preserves a wealth of discussion of Nazirite issues from the Halakhic point of view, but little from the point of view of values; most of these elaborations are to be found in tractate Nazir of the Talmud.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The teachings in tractate Eruvin explore the rules of carrying on the Sabbath.

  • In his latest lecture, the professor provided insights from the famous tractate Berakhot.

  • Jews study each tractate of the Talmud to gain deeper understanding of their faith.

Synonyms

tract
vstractate
12 7.9

A small printed paper that gives information about one subject

is used only for named books or sections in Jewish religious works
tractus
vstractate
  • Archaic
9.9

A short pamphlet that gives information or argues a point

is specific to named books or sections in Jewish religious writings

Surface Forms

tractate singular
tractates plural

Morphology

tractate = tract (semi-transparent) = tract + ate

Historically related to 'tract' and used to name sections (e.g., of the Talmud), but the suffixal formation is learned/loanword-based rather than a productive English pattern.

Etymology

Tractate comes from the old Latin tractare 'to handle' and is like the English tract or treatise. In the Talmud a tractate is a named book or section that 'handles' one topic, which is why the word fits its meaning.