trace

¹ American  

[treys] / treɪs /

noun

1. a surviving mark, sign, or evidence of the former existence, influence, or action of some agent or event; vestige.

   traces of an advanced civilization among the ruins.

2. a barely discernible indication or evidence of some quantity, quality, characteristic, expression, etc..

   a trace of anger in his tone.

   Synonyms:

   touch, taste, suggestion, hint

3. an extremely small amount of some chemical component.

   a trace of copper in its composition.

   Antonyms:

   plethora, excess, abundance

4. traces, the series of footprints left by an animal.

5. the track left by the passage of a person, animal, or object.

   the trace of her skates on the ice.

   Synonyms:

   record, spoor, trail

6. Meteorology. precipitation of less than 0.005 inch (0.127 millimeter).

7. a trail or path, especially through wild or open territory, made by the passage of people, animals, or vehicles.

8. engram.

9. a tracing, drawing, or sketch of something.

10. a lightly drawn line, as the record drawn by a self-registering instrument.

11. Mathematics.

    1. the intersection of two planes, or of a plane and a surface.

    2. the sum of the elements along the principal diagonal of a square matrix.

    3. the geometric locus of an equation.

12. the visible line or lines produced on the screen of a cathode-ray tube by the deflection of the electron beam.

13. Linguistics. (in generative grammar) a construct that is phonologically empty but serves to mark the place in the surface structure of a sentence from which a noun phrase has been moved by a transformational operation.

14. Obsolete. a footprint.

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verb (used with object)

• traces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• traced,
  past participle,  past
• tracing
  present participle

1. to follow the footprints, track, or traces of.

   Synonyms:

   trail, track

2. to follow, make out, or determine the course or line of, especially by going backward from the latest evidence, nearest existence, etc..

   to trace one's ancestry to the Pilgrims.

3. to follow (footprints, evidence, the history or course of something, etc.).

4. to follow the course, development, or history of.

   to trace a political movement.

5. to ascertain by investigation; find out; discover.

   The police were unable to trace his whereabouts.

6. to draw (a line, outline, figure, etc.).

7. to make a plan, diagram, or map of.

8. to copy (a drawing, plan, etc.) by following the lines of the original on a superimposed transparent sheet.

9. to mark or ornament with lines, figures, etc.

10. to make an impression or imprinting of (a design, pattern, etc.).

11. (of a self-registering instrument) to print in a curved, broken, or wavy-lined manner.

12. to put down in writing.

verb (used without object)

• traces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• traced,
  past participle,  past
• tracing
  present participle

1. to go back in history, ancestry, or origin; date back in time.

   Her family traces back to Paul Revere.

2. to follow a course, trail, etc.; make one's way.

3. (of a self-registering instrument) to print a record in a curved, broken, or wavy-lined manner.

trace ² American  

[treys] / treɪs /

noun

1. either of the two straps, ropes, or chains by which a carriage, wagon, or the like is drawn by a harnessed horse or other draft animal.

2. a piece in a machine, as a bar, transferring the movement of one part to another part, being hinged to each.

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idioms

1. kick over the traces, to throw off restraint; become independent or defiant.

   He kicked over the traces and ran off to join the navy.

trace ¹ British  

/ treɪs /

noun

1. a mark or other sign that something has been in a place; vestige

2. a tiny or scarcely detectable amount or characteristic

3. a footprint or other indication of the passage of an animal or person

4. any line drawn by a recording instrument or a record consisting of a number of such lines

5. something drawn, such as a tracing

6. a beaten track or path

7. the postulated alteration in the cells of the nervous system that occurs as the result of any experience or learning See also memory trace engram

8. geometry the intersection of a surface with a coordinate plane

9. maths the sum of the diagonal entries of a square matrix

10. linguistics a symbol inserted in the constituent structure of a sentence to mark the position from which a constituent has been moved in a generative process

11. meteorol an amount of precipitation that is too small to be measured

12. archaic a way taken; route

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verb

1. (tr) to follow, discover, or ascertain the course or development of (something)

   to trace the history of China

2. (tr) to track down and find, as by following a trail

3. to copy (a design, map, etc) by drawing over the lines visible through a superimposed sheet of transparent paper or other material

4. 1. to draw or delineate a plan or diagram of

      she spent hours tracing the models one at a time

   2. to outline or sketch (an idea, policy, etc)

      he traced out his scheme for the robbery

5. (tr) to decorate with tracery

6. (tr) to imprint (a design) on cloth, etc

7. (usually foll by back) to follow or be followed to source; date back

   his ancestors trace back to the 16th century

8. archaic to make one's way over, through, or along (something)

trace ² British  

/ treɪs /

noun

1. either of the two side straps that connect a horse's harness to the swingletree

2. angling a length of nylon or, formerly, gut attaching a hook or fly to a line

3. to escape or defy control

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Synonym Usage

Trace, vestige agree in denoting marks or signs of something, usually of the past. Trace , the broader term, denotes any mark or slight indication of something past or present: a trace of ammonia in water. Vestige is more limited and refers to some slight, though actual, remains of something that no longer exists: vestiges of one's former wealth.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• traceability
  noun
• traceable
  adjective
• traceless
  adjective
• untraced
  adjective
• traceably
  adverb
• tracelessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• tracing
  present
• traced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• trace
  simple
• traces
  simple
• have traced
  perfect
• has traced
  perfect
• am tracing
  progressive
• are tracing
  progressive
• is tracing
  progressive
• have been tracing
  perfect progressive
• has been tracing
  perfect progressive

Past

• traced
  simple
• had traced
  perfect
• was tracing
  progressive
• were tracing
  progressive
• had been tracing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will trace
  simple
• will have traced
  perfect
• will be tracing
  progressive
• will have been tracing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of trace¹

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English verb trace(n), trase(n) “to make one's way, proceed, move along a set course,” from Old French tra(i)cier, traser, from unattested Vulgar Latin tractiāre, derivative of Latin tractus, past participle of trahere “to draw, drag”; Middle English noun trace tras(e) “way, course, line of footprints, track, trail,” from Old French, derivative of tracier

Origin of trace²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English trais(e), traice, from Old French trais, tres, plural of trait “harness strap, action of drawing,” from Latin tractus “a drawing, dragging”; see origin at tract ¹

Explanation

A trace of something is just a hint or suggestion of it, a very small amount left behind — like the sad cookie crumbs at the bottom of an empty cookie jar. There are more meanings we can trace to this word trace. As a verb, trace means to follow the course or trail of something, sometimes even chasing or hunting it. It also means to draw or sketch over a picture on translucent "tracing paper." So you could say that Sherlock Holmes traced criminals throughout London, following even the smallest traces of evidence and tracing copies of the villain's notes for his files.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trace traces traced tracing

The goal was to blend in with legitimate networking traffic, making the hacking activity hard to trace.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

When law enforcement tries to trace bribes or tax evasion, criminals can easily hide among the hundreds of thousands of legal shell companies whose owners were only using them to lower their taxes.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

He confronts the erasers with the trace of what they sought to erase.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

They crunch into every flavor of Wingstop and rack up millions of views; they clean Korean fried chicken drums in one fell bite, without leaving a trace of meat on the bone.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

It must have been smashed to pieces against the boulders and swept away, with no trace left of it.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

Archaeological investigations have identified surviving traces of the former camp complex, but Austria's Federal Monuments Office concluded that the remains were "not sufficient" for monument protection.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

Yet inside “Always” you can still hear traces of what amounted to a messy workplace dispute.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Past treatments may leave biological traces that remain detectable long after the prescription has ended.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

Ms. Southon has worked equally hard to find surviving traces that offer us glimpses into what it was like to be living chattel under Roman rule.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

The guard seemed too tired to argue, or perhaps he saw in Jacqueline’s face traces of some long-dead female relative whom he had not done enough to please while she was still alive.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat

They traced the sound back to the cistern and climbed up about seven feet to its small opening.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026

The chicks have had small identification rings placed round their legs so that they can be traced when they are spotted again.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

The union countered that “deidentification addresses whether a record can be traced to a named individual. It does not address whether the contents of the record are confidential.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

In adult brains, the researchers detected changes in myelination that could be traced to thicker myelin sheaths, particularly around thin axons.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

I traced my finger over the cat on the magazine cover.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

“There was about seven decades of work that had to happen,” he said, tracing the origins to the late 1940s and early 1950s and studies on the statistics of language.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026

The contemporary grocery aisle is full of labels, QR codes, lot numbers and assurances of transparency; nevertheless, the person pushing the cart is increasingly asked to perform the work of tracing the food backward herself.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

"These incidents have disrupted surveillance, case investigation, contact tracing, treatment and community engagements showing how attacks can undermine not only health services, but also the capacity to detect and contain outbreaks," said Musani.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

By tracing the origins of enzymes during the earliest split between bacteria and archaea, the researchers found evidence that free-living cells may have originated independently twice.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026

He kept his eyes on the arm of the desk, tracing circles into it with his thumb and pointer finger.

From "Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson

Related Words

• element
• footprint
• fragment
• hint
• indication
• particle
• proof
• relic
• remains
• remnant
• shred
• smell
• speck
• strain
• taste
• tinge
• touch
• vestige
• whiff