retrace

[ ri-treys ]

/ rɪˈtreɪs /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR retrace ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), re·traced, re·trac·ing.

to trace backward; go back over: to retrace one's steps.

to go back over with the memory.

to go over again with the sight or attention.

re-trace.

Nearby words

Origin of retrace

1690–1700; < French retracer, Middle French retracier, equivalent to re- re- + tracier to trace¹

Related formsre·trace·a·ble, adjectivere·trace·ment, nounnon·re·trace·a·ble, adjective

re-trace

[ ree-treys ]

/ riˈtreɪs /

verb (used with object), re-traced, re-trac·ing.

to trace again, as lines in writing or drawing.

Also retrace.

Origin of re-trace

First recorded in 1750–60; re- + trace¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for retrace

They talked of many things till the sun threw long shadows, and then they turned to retrace their footsteps.
Sanders of the River|Edgar Wallace
The schooner was kept away to retrace her steps to the eastward.
The Three Midshipmen|W.H.G. Kingston
Here he encountered such difficulties among the shoals that he determined to retrace his course to the eastward.
The Isle Of Pines (1668)|Henry Neville
They had not begun well to retrace their steps before the figure of a person was seen approaching them.
The Lily and the Totem|William Gilmore Simms

You can not retrace your steps, nor recede in the development of your being; neither can you stand still.
A Book Written by the Spirits of the So-Called Dead|C. G. Helleberg

British Dictionary definitions for retrace

retrace

/ (rɪˈtreɪs) /

verb (tr)

to go back over (one's steps, a route, etc) againwe retraced the route we took last summer

to go over (a past event) in the mind; recall

to go over (a story, account, etc) from the beginning

Derived Formsretraceable, adjectiveretracement, noun

re-trace

/ (riːˈtreɪs) /

verb

(tr) to trace (a map, drawing, etc) again

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for retrace

retrace

1690s, from French retracer "to trace again," from Middle French retracier, from re- "again" (see re-) + tracier "to trace" (see trace (v.)). Related: Retraced; retracing.