a track or trail, as a downhill ski run or a spoor made by a wild animal.
2.
(in fencing) a regulation-size strip, usually 2 meters wide and 14 meters long, on which fencers compete.
Origin: 1720–30; < French: animal track < Italian pista, pesta, noun derivative of pestare to pound, crush < Vulgar Latin, frequentative of Latin pī(n)sere;compare pestle