Main Entry:

¹trace

Pronunciation:

\ˈtrās\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

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

Date:

14th century

1archaic : a course or path that one follows2 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 vehicles3 a: a sign or evidence of some past thing : vestige b: engram4: 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 spot6 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>.