Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913
Tractrix
Tract′rix (trăkt′rĭks), n. [NL. See Tractor.] (Geom.) 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.