Main Entry: ¹trace

Pronunciation: \ˈtrās\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from tracer to trace

Date: 14th century

1 archaic : a course or path that one follows
2 a : a mark or line left by something that has passed; also : footprint b : a path, trail, or road made by the passage of animals, people, or vehicles
3 a : a sign or evidence of some past thing : vestige b : engram
4 : something (as a line) traced or drawn: as a : the marking made by a recording instrument (as a seismograph or kymograph) b : the ground plan of a military installation or position either on a map or on the ground
5 a : the intersection of a line or plane with a plane b : the usually bright line or spot that moves across the screen of a cathode-ray tube; also : the path taken by such a line or spot
6 a : a minute and often barely detectable amount or indication <a trace of a smile> b : an amount of a chemical constituent not always quantitatively determinable because of minuteness

— trace·less \-ləs\ adjective

synonyms trace, vestige, track mean a perceptible sign made by something that has passed. trace may suggest any line, mark, or discernible effect <a snowfield pockmarked with the traces of caribou>. vestige applies to a tangible reminder such as a fragment or remnant of what is past and gone <boulders that are vestiges of the last ice age>. track implies a continuous line that can be followed <the fossilized tracks of dinosaurs>.