Building Vocabulary from Word Roots Lesson 6 Latin Bases trac, tract, treat, and trud, trus

trac, tract, treat The Latin base trac, tract, treat means “pull, draw.” The Latin base trud, trus means “push, thrust.” These bases to attach to many Latin prefixes (abs-, ad-, con-, de-, dis-, ex-, in-, ob-, pro-, re-, sub-).

trac, tract, treat= “pull, draw” con (together) + tract = contract—(“draw” “together”) When muscles contract, they draw together. trac = trace—(“draw” something) When you trace a picture, you are “drawing” something. tract+ or (something that does) = tractor— (“something that” “pulls”) A tractor is a machine “pulls” “things”. re (back) + treat= retreat—(to “draw” “back”) When troops retreat, they are “drawing” “back” to safety.

trud, trus = “push, thrust” abs (away from) + trus = abstruse—(“push” “away from”) If a topic is abstruse, you “push” “away from” it because it is difficult to understand. ex (out) + trud = extrude—(“push” “out”) When you extrude toothpaste from the tube, you are “pushing” it “out.” pro (forward) + trud = protrude—(something that is “thrust” “forward”) If you have a hernia, then an organ is protruding, or “thrusting” “forward”, through the abdomen wall.

After subtracting its cost from her limited budget, she had to retract her offer to buy the expensive vanilla extract.  How do each of the bolded words mean “pull, draw”? The uninvited intruder tripped over a protruding chair that stopped her from further intrusion.  How do each of the bolded words mean “push, thrust”?

Consider the meaning of the bases and respond to the following questions, making sure to include the base meaning in your answer.  What does it mean for a dog to trace a scent?  What is the difference between a dog tracing a scent and simply being attracted to a scent?  What might keys look like if they are protruding from under a couch cushion?  A common ingredient in baking is vanilla extract. What does the word extract indicate about the process of making this ingredient?