trace¹ (trās)
n.

1. 1. A visible mark, such as a footprint, made or left by the passage of a person, animal, or thing.
   2. Evidence or an indication of the former presence or existence of something; a vestige.
2. A barely perceivable indication; a touch: spoke with a trace of sarcasm.
3. 1. An extremely small amount.
   2. A constituent, such as a chemical compound or element, present in quantities less than a standard limit.
4. A path or trail that has been beaten out by the passage of animals or people.
5. A way or route followed.
6. A line drawn by a recording instrument, such as a cardiograph.
7. Mathematics.
   1. The point at which a line, or the curve in which a surface, intersects a coordinate plane.
   2. The sum of the elements of the principal diagonal of a matrix.
8. An engram.

v., traced, trac·ing, trac·es.

v.tr.

1. To follow the course or trail of: trace a wounded deer; tracing missing persons.
2. To ascertain the successive stages in the development or progress of: tracing the life cycle of an insect; trace the history of a family.
3. To locate or discover by searching or researching evidence: trace the cause of a disease.
4. To draw (a line or figure); sketch; delineate.
5. To form (letters) with special concentration or care.
6. 1. To copy by following lines seen through a sheet of transparent paper.
   2. To follow closely (a prescribed pattern): The skater traced a figure eight.
7. 1. To imprint (a design) by pressure with an instrument on a superimposed pattern.
   2. To make a design or series of markings on (a surface) by such pressure on a pattern.
8. To record (a variable), as on a graph.

v.intr.

1. To make one's way along a trail or course: traced through the files.
2. To have origins; be traceable: linguistic features that trace to West Africa.

adj.
Occurring in extremely small amounts or in quantities less than a standard limit.

[Middle English, track, from Old French, from tracier, to make one's way, from Vulgar Latin *tractiāre, from Latin tractus, a dragging, course, from past participle of trahere, to draw.]

traceability trace'a·bil'i·ty n.
traceable trace'a·ble adj.
traceably trace'a·bly adv.

trace² (trās)
n.

1. One of two side straps or chains connecting a harnessed draft animal to a vehicle or whiffletree.
2. A bar or rod, hinged at either end to another part, that transfers movement from one part of a machine to another.

[Middle English trais, from Old French, pl. of trait, a hauling, harness strap, from Latin tractus, a hauling, from past participle of trahere, to haul.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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