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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

TRACTRIX

Tract "rix, n. Etym: [NL. See Tractor. ] (Geom.)

Defn: A curve such that the part of the tangent between the point of tangency and a given straight line is constant; -- so called because it was conceived as described by the motion of one end of a tangent line as the other end was drawn along the given line.

New American Oxford Dictionary

tractrix

trac trix |ˈtraktriks ˈtræktrɪks | ▶noun ( pl. tractrices |ˌtrakˈtrīsēz, ˈtraktrəˌsēz | ) Geometry a curve whose tangents all intercept the x -axis at the same distance from the point of contact, being the involute of a catenary. • one of a class of curves similarly traced by one end of a rigid rod, whose other end moves along a fixed line or curve. ORIGIN early 18th cent.: modern Latin, feminine of late Latin tractor ‘that which pulls ’ (see tractor ).

Oxford Dictionary

tractrix

tractrix |ˈtraktrɪks | ▶noun ( pl. tractrices |-trɪsiːz | ) Geometry a curve whose tangents all intercept the x -axis at the same distance from the point of contact, being the involute of a catenary. • one of a class of curves similarly traced by one end of a rigid rod, whose other end moves along a fixed line or curve. ORIGIN early 18th cent.: modern Latin, feminine of late Latin tractor ‘that which pulls ’ (see tractor ).