v. & n.
v.tr. 1 a observe, discover, or find vestiges or signs of by investigation. b (often foll. by along, through, to, etc.) follow or mark the track or position of (traced their footprints in the mud; traced the outlines of a wall). c (often foll. by back) follow to its origins (can trace my family to the 12th century; the report has been traced back to you). 2 (often foll. by over) copy (a drawing etc.) by drawing over its lines on a superimposed piece of translucent paper, or by using carbon paper. 3 (often foll. by out) mark out, delineate, sketch, or write esp. laboriously (traced out a plan of the district; traced out his vision of the future). 4 pursue one's way along (a path etc.).
n. 1 a a sign or mark or other indication of something having existed; a vestige (no trace remains of the castle; has the traces of a vanished beauty). b a very small quantity. c an amount of rainfall etc. too small to be measured. 2 a track or footprint left by a person or animal. 3 a track left by the moving pen of an instrument etc. 4 a line on the screen of a cathode-ray tube showing the path of a moving spot. 5 a curve's projection on or intersection with a plane etc. 6 a change in the brain caused by learning processes. trace element 1 a chemical element occurring in minute amounts. 2 a chemical element required only in minute amounts by living organisms for normal growth. trace fossil a fossil that represents a burrow, footprint, etc., of an organism. traceable adj. traceability n. traceless adj.
[ ME f. OF trace (n.), tracier (v.) f. L tractus drawing: see TRACT(1) ]