Nearby Words

tracing

[trey-sing] Origin

trac·ing

[trey-sing]
noun
1.
the act of a person or thing that traces.
2.
something that is produced by tracing.
3.
a copy of a drawing, map, plan, etc., made by tracing on a transparent sheet placed over the original.
4.
the record made by a self-registering instrument.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English; see trace1, -ing1

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Tracing is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

trace

1[treys] noun, verb, traced, trac·ing.
noun
1.
a surviving mark, sign, or evidence of the former existence, influence, or action of some agent or event; vestige: traces of an advanced civilization among the ruins.
2.
a barely discernible indication or evidence of some quantity, quality, characteristic, expression, etc.: a trace of anger in his tone.
3.
an extremely small amount of some chemical component: a trace of copper in its composition.
4.
traces, the series of footprints left by an animal.
5.
the track left by the passage of a person, animal, or object: the trace of her skates on the ice.
EXPAND
6.
Meteorology. precipitation of less than 0.005 inches (0.127 mm).
7.
a trail or path, especially through wild or open territory, made by the passage of people, animals, or vehicles.
9.
a tracing, drawing, or sketch of something.
10.
a lightly drawn line, as the record drawn by a self-registering instrument.
11.
Mathematics.
a.
the intersection of two planes, or of a plane and a surface.
b.
the sum of the elements along the principal diagonal of a square matrix.
c.
the geometric locus of an equation.
12.
the visible line or lines produced on the screen of a cathode-ray tube by the deflection of the electron beam.
13.
Linguistics. (in generative grammar) a construct that is phonologically empty but serves to mark the place in the surface structure of a sentence from which a noun phrase has been moved by a transformational operation.
14.
Obsolete. a footprint.
COLLAPSE
verb (used with object)
15.
to follow the footprints, track, or traces of.
16.
to follow, make out, or determine the course or line of, especially by going backward from the latest evidence, nearest existence, etc.: to trace one's ancestry to the Pilgrims.
17.
to follow (footprints, evidence, the history or course of something, etc.).
18.
to follow the course, development, or history of: to trace a political movement.
19.
to ascertain by investigation; find out; discover: The police were unable to trace his whereabouts.
EXPAND
20.
to draw (a line, outline, figure, etc.).
21.
to make a plan, diagram, or map of.
22.
to copy (a drawing, plan, etc.) by following the lines of the original on a superimposed transparent sheet.
23.
to mark or ornament with lines, figures, etc.
24.
to make an impression or imprinting of (a design, pattern, etc.).
25.
(of a self-registering instrument) to print in a curved, broken, or wavy-lined manner.
26.
to put down in writing.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
27.
to go back in history, ancestry, or origin; date back in time: Her family traces back to Paul revere.
28.
to follow a course, trail, etc.; make one's way.
29.
(of a self-registering instrument) to print a record in a curved, broken, or wavy-lined manner.

Origin:
1250–1300; late Middle English tracen, Middle English: to make one's way, proceed < Middle French tracier < Vulgar Latin *tractiāre, derivative of Latin tractus, past participle of trahere to draw, drag; (noun) Middle English: orig., way, course, line of footprints < Old French, derivative of tracier

un·traced, adjective


1. Trace, vestige agree in denoting marks or signs of something, usually of the past. Trace, the broader term, denotes any mark or slight indication of something past or present: a trace of ammonia in water. Vestige is more limited and refers to some slight, though actual, remains of something that no longer exists: vestiges of one's former wealth. 2. hint, suggestion, taste, touch. 5. spoor, trail, record. 15. trail.


3. abundance, plethora.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
tracing (ˈtreɪsɪŋ)
 
n
1.  a copy made by tracing
2.  the act of making a trace
3.  a record made by an instrument

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

trace
"straps or chains by which an animal pulls a vehicle," c.1300, from earlier collective plural trays, from O.Fr. traiz, pl. of trait "strap for harnessing, act of drawing," from L. tractus "a drawing, track," from stem of trahere "to pull, draw" (see tract (1)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

tracing trac·ing (trā'sĭng)
n.
A graphic record of mechanical or electrical events that is recorded by a pointed instrument.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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