Tratta

Tratta is a term in the Italian language with several related but distinct uses. As a noun, it commonly designates a stretch or segment of a journey or transportation network. It is used to refer to a route or leg of travel, for example “la tratta ferroviaria Roma–Milano” or “la tratta urbana dell’autobus.” In this sense, tratta denotes the portion of a path between two points and can apply to roads, railways, shipping lanes, or bus lines.

In legal and criminological contexts, tratta has a specialized sense: it is used to refer to human trafficking, as in “la tratta di esseri umani” or “la tratta degli schiavi.” In these phrases, tratta refers to the organized activity of transporting, recruiting, or exploiting people illegally.

Grammatically, tratta also exists as the third-person singular present indicative form of the verb trattare, meaning “he/she handles” or “he/she treats.” The feminine noun meaning route or segment is separate from the verb form, though they share the same spelling.

Etymology: the word derives from Latin tractus or tractare, through the medieval and early modern development of Italian. The sense of drawing out or dragging, and of a path or route, underlies both the figurative and physical uses of tratta in modern Italian.