tracing

American  

[trey-sing] / ˈtreɪ sɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of a person or thing that traces.

2. something that is produced by tracing.

3. a copy of a drawing, map, plan, etc., made by tracing on a transparent sheet placed over the original.

4. the record made by a self-registering instrument.

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tracing British  

/ ˈtreɪsɪŋ /

noun

1. a copy made by tracing

2. the act of making a trace

3. a record made by an instrument

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Etymology

Origin of tracing

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at trace ¹, -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Edith Grossman, admired for her English versions of Cervantes and Gabriel García Márquez, once observed that “a translation is not made with tracing paper.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

By tracing its path backward over billions of years, they determined that the star originated in the Large Magellanic Cloud before eventually being pulled into the Milky Way.

From Science Daily • Apr. 4, 2026

Browder also spent years tracing the proceeds of the scheme, with the help of investigative journalists at Barron’s and other publications.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

The show examines the environmental and human cost of the atomic era through an artistic lens, tracing present day nuclear risk back to its Cold War roots.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

She had her hands on her knees and I touched my fingers to her knuckles, tracing the peaks and valleys, staring at her skin.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

Related Words

• architecture
• arrangement
• composition
• construction
• drawing
• form
• idea
• layout
• map
• method
• model
• pattern
• picture
• plan
• scheme
• study