Meaning and Origin
What does the name Trace mean? Keep reading to find the user submitted meanings, dictionary definitions, and more.
Origin and Meaning of Trace
User Submitted Origins
American
57%
English
35%
German
2%
Jamaican
2%
Native American
2%
Hebrew
2%
User Submitted Meanings
- A submission from Virginia, U.S. says the name Trace means "Brace" and is of American origin.
- According to a user from Nebraska, U.S., the name Trace is of English origin and means "Brave".
International Interest
Also see international interest
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Trace
Senses
- One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending from the collar or breastplate to a whiffletree attached to a vehicle or thing to be drawn; a tug.
- [Mech] A connecting bar or rod, pivoted at each end to the end of another piece, for transmitting motion, esp. from one plane to another; specif., such a piece in an organ-stop action to transmit motion from the trundle to the lever actuating the stop slider.
Etymology: F. trais. pl. of trait. See Trait
noun Trace
Senses
- A mark left by anything passing; a track; a path; a course; a footprint; a vestige; as, the trace of a carriage or sled; the trace of a deer; a sinuous trace .
- [Chem. & Min] A very small quantity of an element or compound in a given substance, especially when so small that the amount is not quantitatively determined in an analysis; -- hence, in stating an analysis, often contracted to tr.
- A mark, impression, or visible appearance of anything left when the thing itself no longer exists; remains; token; vestige."The shady empire shall retain no trace Of war or blood, but in the sylvan chase." [Pope.]
- [Descriptive Geom. & Persp] The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.
- [Fort] The ground plan of a work or works.
Etymology: F. trace. See Trace (v. t.)
verb Trace
Senses
- To mark out; to draw or delineate with marks; especially, to copy, as a drawing or engraving, by following the lines and marking them on a sheet superimposed, through which they appear; as, to trace a figure or an outline; a traced drawing."Some faintly traced features or outline of the mother and the child, slowly lading into the twilight of the woods." [Hawthorne.]
- To follow by some mark that has been left by a person or thing which has preceded; to follow by footsteps, tracks, or tokens."You may trace the deluge quite round the globe." [T. Burnet.]"I feel thy power . . . to trace the ways Of highest agents." [Milton.]
- Hence, to follow the trace or track of."How all the way the prince on footpace traced." [Spenser.]
- To copy; to imitate."That servile path thou nobly dost decline, Of tracing word, and line by line." [Denham.]
- To walk over; to pass through; to traverse."We do tracethis alley up and down." [Shak.]
Etymology: OF. tracier, F. tracer, from (assumed) LL. tractiare, fr.L. tractus, p. p. of trahere to draw. Cf. Abstract Attract Contract Portratt Tract Trail Train Treat.
verb Trace
To walk; to go; to travel.
Other Dictionary Sources
- Either of two lines that connect a horse's harness to a wagon or other vehicle or to a whiffletree
- A drawing created by superimposing a semitransparent sheet of paper on the original image and copying on it the lines of the original image
- An indication that something has been present ("there wasn't a trace of evidence for the claim")
- A visible mark (as a footprint) left by the passage of person or animal or vehicle
- A suggestion of some quality
- A just detectable amount ("he speaks French with a trace of an accent")
- Read with difficulty ("The archeologist traced the hieroglyphs")
- Follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something ("trace the student's progress" and "trace one's ancestry")
- Make a mark or lines on a surface ("trace the outline of a figure in the sand")
- Copy by following the lines of the original drawing on a transparent sheet placed upon it; make a tracing of ("trace a design" and "trace a pattern")
- Make one's course or travel along a path; travel or pass over, around, or along ("The children traced along the edge of the dark forest" and "The women traced the pasture")
- Pursue or chase relentlessly ("The hunters traced the deer into the woods")
- To go back over again ("we retraced the route we took last summer" and "trace your path")
- Discover traces of ("She traced the circumstances of her birth")
Wiktionary
- (colloquial) A short form of the female given name Tracy or Tracey.