tracing

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.

a barely discernible indication or evidence of some quantity, quality, characteristic, expression, etc.: a trace of anger in his tone.

an extremely small amount of some chemical component: a trace of copper in its composition.

traces, the series of footprints left by an animal.

the track left by the passage of a person, animal, or object: the trace of her skates on the ice.

Meteorology. precipitation of less than 0.005 inches (0.127 mm).

a trail or path, especially through wild or open territory, made by the passage of people, animals, or vehicles.

engram.

a tracing, drawing, or sketch of something.

10.

a lightly drawn line, as the record drawn by a self-registering instrument.

11.

Mathematics.

the intersection of two planes, or of a plane and a surface.

the sum of the elements along the principal diagonal of a square matrix.

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.

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.

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.

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

Related forms

un·traced, adjective

Synonyms
1. T race , vestige agree in denoting marks or signs of something, usually of the past. T race , the broader term, denotes any mark or slight indication of something past or present: a trace of ammonia in water. V estige 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.

Antonyms
3. abundance, plethora.

Link To tracing

Collins

World English Dictionary

trace¹ (treɪs)

—n
1.	a mark or other sign that something has been in a place; vestige
2.	a tiny or scarcely detectable amount or characteristic
3.	a footprint or other indication of the passage of an animal or person
4.	any line drawn by a recording instrument or a record consisting of a number of such lines
5.	something drawn, such as a tracing
6.	chiefly (US) a beaten track or path
7.	memory trace See also engram the postulated alteration in the cells of the nervous system that occurs as the result of any experience or learning
8.	geometry the intersection of a surface with a coordinate plane
9.	maths the sum of the diagonal entries of a square matrix
10.	linguistics a symbol inserted in the constituent structure of a sentence to mark the position from which a constituent has been moved in a generative process
11.	meteorol an amount of precipitation that is too small to be measured
12.	archaic a way taken; route

—vb (often foll by out)
13.	(tr) to follow, discover, or ascertain the course or development of (something): to trace the history of China
14.	(tr) to track down and find, as by following a trail
15.	to copy (a design, map, etc) by drawing over the lines visible through a superimposed sheet of transparent paper or other material
16.	a. to draw or delineate a plan or diagram of: she spent hours tracing the models one at a time
	b. to outline or sketch (an idea, policy, etc): he traced out his scheme for the robbery
17.	(tr) to decorate with tracery
18.	(tr) to imprint (a design) on cloth, etc
19.	(usually foll by back) to follow or be followed to source; date back: his ancestors trace back to the 16th century
20.	archaic to make one's way over, through, or along (something)

[C13: from French tracier, from Vulgar Latin tractiāre (unattested) to drag, from Latin tractus, from trahere to drag]

'traceable¹

—*adj*

tracea'bility¹

—n

'traceableness¹

—n

'traceably¹

—*adv*

'traceless¹

—*adj*

'tracelessly¹

—*adv*

trace² (treɪs)

—n
1.	either of the two side straps that connect a horse's harness to the swingletree
2.	angling a length of nylon or, formerly, gut attaching a hook or fly to a line
3.	kick over the traces to escape or defy control

[C14 trais, from Old French trait, ultimately from Latin trahere to drag]

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
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

trace

late 14c., "to make a plan or diagram," from O.Fr. trasser "delineate, score, trace, follow, pursue" (12c.), from V.L. *tractiare "delineate, score, trace" (cf. Sp. trazar "to trace, devise, plan out," It. tracciare "to follow by foot"), from L. tractus "track, course," lit. "a drawing out," from pp.

stem of trahere "to pull, draw" (see tract (1)). Meaning "to pass over" (a path, etc.) is attested from late 14c. Sense of "draw an outline of" is first recorded late 14c. Meaning "copy a drawing on a transparent sheet laid over it" is recorded from 1762.

trace

"track made by passage of a person or thing," c.1300, from O.Fr. trace, back-formation from tracier (see trace (v.)). Scientific sense of "indication of minute presence in some chemical compound" is from 1827. The verb in the sense of "follow by means of traces or tracks"

is recorded from c.1450. Traces "vestiges" is from c.1400. Tracer "bullet whose course is made visible" is attested from 1910.

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)).

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.

Example sentences

Explain that the students, all of different sizes, now act as a set of waves by

tracing from their hands to their heads.

Then he wrapped dental floss around the paper, tracing grooves made by the

inserted screw.

To beat back the bots, he needed help tracing their origins.

Tracing information back to its source could help prove trustworthiness.

Remove ads like these. Upgrade now!

genetic marker gens gotra heraldry horseradish peroxidase lineation

Matching Quote

"In this Journal, my pen is a delicate needle point, tracing out a graph of temperament so as to show its daily fluctuations: grave and gay, up and down, lamentation and revelry, self-love and self-disgust. You get here all my thoughts and opinions, always irresponsible and often contradictory or mutually exclusive, all my moods and vapours, all the varying reactions to environment of this jelly which is I."

-W.N.P. Barbellion