tractable
adjective
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A frequentative is a form of a verb that indicates repeated action. The frequentative of the word sniff, for example, is sniffle, meaning “to sniff repeatedly.” Some English words come from a frequentative in another language, and tractable is one. Tractable, meaning “easily led or managed,” comes from the Latin adjective tractabilis, which in turn comes from the verb tractare, which has various meanings including “to drag about,” “to handle,” “to deal with,” and “to treat.” Not to drag on too much about Latin, but tractare is the frequentative of another Latin verb, trahere, meaning “to drag or pull.” Now, one can pull or tug a draft animal on a lead, for example, whether or not that animal is willing or compliant. But if one can pull, handle, or otherwise deal with that animal repeatedly or continuously with ease (by treating it well, we presume)? Well, you can see where this is leading—in English we would call our helpful animal friend tractable. Speaking of farms, despite its resemblance, tractor did not pass through the frequentative tractare but it does come from trahere.
Synonyms
Examples of tractable in a Sentence
Michael Teo Van Runkle, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
LLMs are much less tractable, much less reliable black boxes.
—Kate Irwin, PCMAG, 17 Sep. 2024
But other coalition members have so far proven less tractable.
—Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024
This would shift the burden of the control effort to mid-flight, simplifying the leg design and possibly making rapid bipedal motion more tractable than a moderate pace.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for tractable 
Dictionary Entries Near tractable
Cite this Entry
“Tractable.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tractable. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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tractable
adjective
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