trait

American  

[treyt, trey] / treɪt, treɪ /

noun

1. a distinguishing characteristic or quality, especially of one's personal nature.

   bad traits of character.

   Synonyms:

   property, attribute, mark, peculiarity

2. a pen or pencil stroke.

3. a stroke, touch, or strain, as of some quality.

   a trait of pathos; a trait of ready wit.

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trait British  

/ treɪ, treɪt /

noun

1. a characteristic feature or quality distinguishing a particular person or thing

2. rare a touch or stroke

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trait Scientific  

/ trāt /

1. A genetically determined characteristic or condition. Traits may be physical, such as hair color or leaf shape, or they may be behavioral, such as nesting in birds and burrowing in rodents. Traits typically result from the combined action of several genes, though some traits are expressed by a single gene.

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Etymology

Origin of trait

First recorded in 1470–80; from Middle French: literally, “something drawn,” from Latin tractus; see tract ¹

Explanation

A trait is something about you that makes you "you." When your mother says that you get all your best traits from her, she means you have the same charming smile and the same brilliant mind as she has. In science, trait refers to a characteristic that is caused by genetics. Having green eyes or being shorter than average are traits a person might have. In more general use, a trait is an important part of someone’s personality or appearance. Try to describe your favorite teacher in three words and you’ll probably come up with a list of her essential traits — such as compassionate, calm, and kooky.

Example Sentences

Berthe Cleyrergue cooked and cleaned for Barney and Brooks in Villa Trait d'Union, the hyphen-shaped house they shared in the south of France.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2023

Kalmoe: Trait aggression is an individual tendency to behave aggressively in everyday interactions with other people, including verbal and physical forms.

From Salon • May 21, 2022

Trait mindfulness has to do with whether you have a mindful disposition, so to speak.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 20, 2021

In 2012, Kanne created a self-assessment called the Subthreshold Autism Trait Questionnaire, meant to measure autism features in the general population.

From Scientific American • Apr. 8, 2018

Trait is pronounced in accordance with its English spelling, and therefore very few Americans have ever discovered the pun in the title of Dr. Doran's book, 'Table Traits, and something on them'.

From Society for Pure English, Tract 05 The Englishing of French Words; the Dialectal Words in Blunden's Poems by Society for Pure English

Related Words

• attribute
• character
• feature
• habit
• idiosyncrasy
• manner
• oddity
• peculiarity
• quality
• quirk
• trick
• virtue