# trace

Pronunciation: US say "TRAYS" /tɹeɪs/; UK

## Noun

1. A mark left behind as a sign that a person or animal has passed by.
   - Simple: A mark or sign that shows a person or animal passed by.
   - _Detectives searched the room but found no trace of the intruder._
   - _Faint traces of ancient footpaths still cross the moorland._
2. A very small amount, often left over, of some substance or material.
   - Simple: A very small amount of something that is left behind.
   - _Lab tests revealed a trace of lead in the paint sample._
   - _Only traces of the original perfume lingered in the empty bottle._
8. An instance or act of tracing something.
   - Simple: The act of copying or following a line, shape, or path.
   - _The detective's careful trace of the call led to an address._
   - _A single trace of the pattern was enough for the seamstress._
9. An inquiry sent out to locate a missing item, such as a letter or an express package.
   - Simple: A request sent out to find a lost letter or package.
   - _The shipping company opened a trace on the delayed shipment._
   - _After a week, customers can request a trace for undelivered mail._
10. A small amount of rain, too little to be measured.
   - Simple: A very small amount of rain, too little to measure.
   - _Weather stations recorded only a trace of rain during the dry spell._
   - _A trace of drizzle dampened the streets but added nothing to the totals._
11. A conductive pathway on a printed circuit board that carries electric current.
   - Simple: A thin metal line on a circuit board that carries electricity.
   - _The engineer rerouted a trace to avoid the overheating component._
   - _Each trace on the board carries signals between the chips._
12. A sequence of instructions, including branches but not loops, that runs for a given set of input data.
   - Simple: A list of the instructions a program follows for one set of input, with no repeated loops.
   - _The profiler captured a trace for each test input._
   - _Engineers compared two traces to find where the logic diverged._
14. An informal road or well-worn path running through arid or open country.
   - Simple: A rough path or unpaved road across dry, open land.
   - _Settlers crossed the high plains along a dusty trace marked only by wagon ruts._
   - _A faint trace led them across the parched valley toward the river._
15. An empty grammatical position marking the spot from which a word has been moved, used to explain structures like wh-questions and the passive.
   - Simple: In grammar, a silent gap left where a word has been moved to another spot in a sentence.
   - _In the analysis, a trace marks the original object position after the noun moves to the front._
   - _The passive sentence leaves a trace where the subject originally appeared._
16. The number obtained by adding together the elements on the main diagonal of a square matrix.
   - Simple: In math, the sum of the numbers along the main diagonal of a square number grid.
   - _The trace of a matrix equals the sum of its eigenvalues._
   - _She computed the trace by adding the three diagonal entries._
17. The line formed where a plane of projection or a given plane meets a coordinate plane.
   - Simple: In geometry, the line where one flat surface meets another.
   - _The plane's trace on the floor of the coordinate system was a single straight line._
   - _Engineers sketched the trace where the cutting plane intersected the horizontal axis plane._
18. Either of the two straps, chains, or ropes that run from a draft animal's harness to the vehicle or load being pulled.
   - Simple: A strap, chain, or rope that connects a horse's harness to the cart or load it pulls.
   - _A worn trace broke under the strain as the team hauled the loaded wagon uphill._
   - _He buckled each trace from the collar to the whippletree before setting off._
19. The ground plan or outline of a fortification as laid out on the site.
   - Simple: In building forts, the outline or plan of the fort marked out on the ground.
   - _The defending engineers staked out the trace of the new bastion before construction began._
   - _A star-shaped trace allowed the fort's guns to cover every approach._
20. A connecting bar or rod pivoted at each end to another piece, used to transmit motion from one part to another, especially between different planes.
   - Simple: A bar or rod joined at both ends to other parts to pass movement from one to another.
   - _Inside the mechanism, a slender trace carried the motion from the wheel to the sliding bar._
   - _Each trace pivoted freely at both ends so it could pass movement around a corner._

## Adjective

3. Present in an extremely small or insignificant amount or quantity.
   - Simple: So small in amount that it is hard to notice or measure.
   - _The blood test showed trace amounts of the drug._
   - _Even trace quantities of the allergen can trigger a reaction._

## Verb

4. To copy a design onto an overlaid sheet of paper by drawing over the lines of the original.
   - Simple: To copy a picture by putting thin paper over it and drawing along the lines.
   - _The student traced the diagram before coloring it in._
   - _Children often trace shapes to practice drawing._
5. To follow the trail or path left by a person, animal, or thing.
   - Simple: To follow the marks or path left by someone or something.
   - _Investigators traced the suspect to a remote cabin._
   - _Trackers can trace an animal by its prints and droppings._
6. To follow the history or development of something from its origin onward.
   - Simple: To follow how something developed from the past up to now.
   - _The book traces the rise of jazz from its early roots._
   - _Researchers trace the disease back to a single outbreak._
7. To draw or sketch something lightly, or with careful attention.
   - Simple: To draw or sketch something carefully, often with light lines.
   - _He traced the figure's profile with slow, careful strokes._
   - _Designers trace the first rough shapes before adding detail._
13. To follow a program's execution by halting it after each instruction or having it print a message at every step.
   - Simple: To follow a program step by step to see what it does at each point.
   - _Developers trace the application to watch how each instruction changes the stored values._
   - _To debug the crash, the engineers trace the routine instruction by instruction._

## Verb

21. To reproduce something by copying it, or to imitate another's work or manner. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To make a copy of something, or to imitate it.
22. To walk over, pass through, or travel across a place or region. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To walk across or pass through a place.
   - _Weary soldiers must trace the marshland on foot before reaching camp._
   - _They traced the length of the valley in a single day._
23. To walk, go, or travel from place to place. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To walk, go, or travel from one place to another.
   - _At dawn the shepherds trace across the open moor._
   - _The minstrels traced from town to town in search of an audience._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 8–12, 14–20** — From Middle English trace or traas, borrowed from Old French trace meaning 'an outline, track, trace', which came from the verb form.
**Meanings 4–7, 13, 21–23** — From Middle English tracen, from Old French tracer or trasser ('to delineate, trace', also 'to follow, pursue'). This was probably a blend of Vulgar Latin *tractiō ('to trace'), from Latin trahere ('to draw'), and Old French traquer ('to chase, hunt'), from trac ('a track'), from Middle Dutch treck ('a drawing, draft, feature').

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/trace (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).