Tractor

Tractor

Noun · /ˈtræktə/ · a powerful vehicle for pulling farm machinery or heavy loads

Definition

A tractor is a powerful motor vehicle with large rear wheels and a strong engine, designed to pull farm equipment or heavy loads. The word also appears in technical English as a prefix meaning something that pulls or draws — as in tractor beam, or the tractor part of an articulated lorry.

Origin

From Latin tractor, from trahere — to pull or drag. First used in English in the late nineteenth century as a general term for any pulling machine, then narrowed to agricultural vehicles in the early twentieth century. The Latin root is also behind words such as traction, attract, contract, and extract — every one of them carrying that core idea of pulling.