| 释义 |
▪ I. trace, n.1|treɪs|
Forms: 3– trace; also 4–5 tras, 4–7 trase, (4 traze, Sc. trass, traiss, 4–5 trays, Sc. traise, 5 traas, trayse, (trasche), 6 Sc. trais).
[a. F. trace (12th c. in Godef.) = Pr. trassa, It. traccia (Sp. traza draught, first sketch), vbl. n. f. OF. tracier, F. tracer: see trace v.1]
I.
†1.
a. The way or path which anything takes; course, road; esp. in to take one's trace, to make one's way, take one's course, proceed. Obs.
a1300[see b]. 13..K. Alis. 7759 (Bodl. MS.) Alisaunder & Candace To Chaumber token her trace. 13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 1112 To-warde þe þrone þay trone a tras. c1425Cast. Persev. 1923 in Macro Plays 131 Haue don, felaus! & take ȝoure trasche. c1440Promp. Parv. 498/2 Trace, of a wey over a felde, trames. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 3394 To farne agayne he takes his trace. c1470Henryson Mor. Fab. ix. (Wolf & Fox) xvi, All the trace he [the Cadger] trippit on his tais. 1530Palsgr. 282/2 Trace, a streyght way, trace. 1596Spenser F.Q. vi. i. 6 Now I begin To tread an endlesse trace, withouten guyde. 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. v. §25. 684 The striate particles finding no fit pores or traces for their passage through it. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ. (1778) I. 69, I wanted the traces through which my wishes might find their way to her.
†b. fig. A course of action or conduct; way of proceeding; ‘path’, ‘way’, ‘road’; esp. in phrases to follow, take, tread the trace. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 25528 Until us Þat al to mikel has ben vn⁓buxs Vnto þi suet trace [Fairf. for to folow þi trace]. c1375Cato's Mor. 374 ibid. p. 1674 (Fairf. MS.) Gode grante vs grace To folow catouns trace In his teyching. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxvi. (Nycholas) 43 Þus he be-gane to god seke, & held furth ay in þat trace. c1430Hymns Virg. 35, Y took to þe world, & wente from þee, Y folewide þe feend al in his traas. c1586C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxix. D. iii, From the lyers trace, From falshoods wreathed way, O save me, Lord. 1631Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 67 The rest of the Nobilitie..trode also the same trace. 1652J. Wright tr. Camus' Nat. Paradox viii. 163 To reduce him into the trace of his Duty and Reason. a1716South Serm. (1823) III. 252 God, by a secret, unobserved trace of his providence, may cast men under a..seducing ministry.
†2. A line, file, or train of persons. Obs.
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 285, I saugh comyng of ladyes Nientene..And after hem coome of wymen swich a traas. 1598Barret Theor. Warres iv. i. 102 The Sergeant Maiors..haue conducted these Regiments very disorderly, making a long trace, file, or lyne (as it were) of them.
†3. A series of steps in dancing; a measure; a dance. Obs.
c1450Mankind ii. 521 in Macro Plays 20, I xall make hym to dawnce a-noþer trace! c1460Sir R. Ros Belle Dame 190 Whan he thought tyme to daunce with her a trace. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxxxi. 26 Thane com the ladyis, danceing in ane trace. 1519Interl. Four Elements (Percy Soc.) 48 Folow all! I wyll lede a trace. 1577[see tracing vbl. n.1 2].
†4.
a. pl. The series or line of footprints left by an animal; hence in sing. a footprint. Obs.
13..Guy Warw. (A.) 4732 Of hors traces hy þer seye. c1374Chaucer Boeth. v. Met. v. 133 (Camb. MS.) Other bestis gladen hemself to diggen hir traas or hir steppis in the Erthe with hir goyngz or with hir feet. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop iv. xii, We knowe wel by thy traces that all the beestes whiche haue entryd in to thy hows came not oute ageyne. 1552Huloet, Trace or steppe, vestigium. 1575Turberv. Venerie 114 In Beasts of pray and rauine as Beare and Bore &c. they are called traces. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 694 There is more regard to bee taken vnto her traces: for the print of the hares foot is sharpe, and fashioned like vnto the point of a knife. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Trace (among Hunters), the Footprint of wild Beasts.
fig.1610Crt. & Times Jas. I (1849) I. 114 One who hath left so good traces and steps wherein to walk.
†b. pl. loosely. Footsteps. Obs.
1613W. Browne Brit. Past. i. iv. 294 Till at the last..Ye bend your traces up some shady hill.
5. a. The track made by the passage of any person or thing, whether beaten by feet or indicated in any other way: = track n. 1. on one's trace(s, in pursuit of one; to keep trace of, to follow the movements of, keep sight of in going.
1375Barbour Bruce vi. 553 In his traiss þe hund he set. Ibid. 583 Þe hund..ay followit þe kyngis trass. c1420Anturs of Arth. v, The king blowe rechas, And folowed fast on þe tras. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 238 Men myghte well folow hym bi the trase, by cause of the blode that cam out of his body. 1556W. Tymmes in Foxe A. & M. (1583) 2142/1 A sheepe [= ship] that passeth ouer the waues.., when it is gone by, the trace thereof cannot be found. 1810Scott Lady of L. i. vii, Two dogs of black Saint Hubert's breed..Fast on his [the stag's] flying traces came. 1887Bowen æneid ii. 528 On his traces aflame with murderous stroke, Pyrrhus—behind—the pursuer!
b. spec. A beaten path through a wild or unenclosed region, made by the passage of men or beasts; a track, a trail. U.S.
1807Wilkinson in Pike Sources Mississ. ii. (1810) App. 24 We..took the large Spanish trace for the Arkansaw river. 1808Pike Sources Mississ. ii. (1810) 134 We marched, leaving the Osage trace, which we had hitherto followed. 1817J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 65 We..soon fell in with the trace from the Maha village to the monument. 1837R. M. Bird Nick of the Woods xxiv. II. 247 Leaving the broad buffalo-trace by which he descended the banks. 1904W. Churchill Crossing vii, They were going ahead up the trace towards his mother's.
c. In the West Indies, A grass drive, a lane.
1871Kingsley At Last vii, The heat of a cane-field trace is utterly stifling. Ibid. xiii, A grass drive, as we should call it in England—a ‘trace’, as it is called in the West Indies—some sixty feet in width.
6. a. pl. Vestiges or marks remaining and indicating the former presence, existence, or action of something; sing. a vestige, an indication. Also to sink without trace: see sink v. 1 a.
c1400Mandeville (1839) vi. 71 Sche mylked hem on the rede stones of marble; so þat the traces may ȝit be sene in the stones alle whyte. 1814Mrs. J. West Alicia de Lacy III. 2 No trace of inhabitation but the fortified castle or the sacred monastery. 1816Scott Antiq. iv, My niece..saw the traces of the ditch at once. 1865Lubbock Preh. Times ii. 29 At the end of the coffin were found traces of leather, doubtless the remains of boots. Mod. Of the fortifications no trace now remains.
b. A mark or impression left on the face, the mind, etc.
1809Malkin Gil Blas iii. v. ⁋12 My brain full of joyous traces. 1844A. B. Welby Poems (1867) 45 Where beauty left so soft a trace. 1848Lytton Harold i. i, It was on that forehead that time had set its trace.
c. An indication of the presence of a minute amount of some constituent in a compound; a quantity so minute as to be inferred but not actually measured; esp. in Chem.; transf. a very little. Also in Meteorol. (see quot. 1930).
1827Faraday Chem. Manip. iv. (1842) 99 It burns away completely in a blast-furnace, leaving scarcely a trace of slag. 1838T. Thomson Chem. Org. Bodies 578 Traces of oxalic acid can be detected. 1859R. Hunt Guide Mus. Pract. Geol. (ed. 2) 209 Its composition is: Gold 48·67, Silver 51·33, Copper, a trace. 1875Darwin Insectiv. Pl. xvi. 375 The distance was a trace less. 1876Gladstone in Contemp. Rev. June 22 Like a chemist who, in a testing analysis,..if he finds something behind so minute as to refuse any quantitative estimate, calls it by the name of ‘trace’. 1908Observer's Handbk. (Meteorol. Office) i. 35 Falls [of rain] of less than ·005-inch should be noted in the register by entering the word ‘trace’. 1930Meteorol. Gloss. (ed. 2) (Meteorol. Office) 177 The word ‘trace’ is entered in the daily record sheet when some rain (or other form of precipitation) is known to have fallen and the amount in the gauge is not large enough to be measured. 1974Nature 25 Oct. 694/2 The measurements were made in very light snowfall (which never exceeded a ‘trace’ in equivalent precipitation rate).
d. Psychol. A change in the brain as a result of some mental experience; the physical after-effect of such.
1690Locke Essay Hum. Und. ii. i. 41 The memory of Thoughts, is retained by the impressions that are made on the Brain, and the traces there left after such thinking. Ibid. x. 67 There is no reason why the sound of a Pipe should leave traces in their [sc. birds'] Brains. 1892G. F. Stout Man. Psychol. I. i. ii. 76 Mental development would be impossible unless previous experience left behind it persistent after-effects to determine the nature and course of subsequent experience. These after-effects are called..traces or dispositions. 1927G. V. Anrep tr. Pavlov's Conditioned Reflexes iii. 39 The stimulus this time is not the actual disappearance of an external agent, but the trace left by the action of the agent on the central nervous system after the agent itself has been removed. 1930W. Köhler Gestalt Psychol. ix. 232 Learning and those processes the traces of which make reproduction and recognition possible. 1940Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. XXX. 193 This process..works in conjunction with and through the trace-column, the masses of traces, ultimately of a chemical nature, left by past experience. 1978Tarpy & Mayer Found. Learning & Memory ii. 22 In trace conditioning, the CS does not impinge directly upon the sense receptors.
e. Linguistics. In transformational grammar, a phonetically null element considered to have been left in the position from which another element has been moved by a transformation, and to retain some influence on the resultant sentence.
1975N. Chomsky Logical Struct. Linguistic Theory 22 Transformations that move expressions leave a ‘trace’ in the position from which the item was moved. 1977Stud. in Eng. Lit.: Eng. Number (Tokyo) 95 Traces make it possible to define permissible transformations correctly. 1978Language LIV. 412 S-initial sentential complements are base-generated in topic position.., and are linked to an empty subject position (actually a trace in subject position..) by a general rule of interpretation.
7. fig. A non-material indication or evidence of the presence or existence of something, or of a former event or condition; a sign, mark.
1656Cowley Pind. Odes i. iii, With Oblivions silent stroke deface Of foregone Ills the very trace. 1696Whiston Th. Earth ii. (1722) 186 There are Traces..of a Tradition that a Comet did appear at the very Beginning of the Deluge. 1710Pope Windsor For. 372 The shady empire shall retain no trace Of war or blood, but in the sylvan chase. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. x. II. 661 In countries where all trace of the limited monarchy of the middle ages had long been effaced. 1850McCosh Div. Govt. i. ii. (1874) 36 We discover everywhere in this world traces of design and wisdom. 1909H. M. Gwatkin Early Ch. Hist. xi. 188 There is no trace of any veneration of pictures or images before the fourth century.
8. a. A line or figure drawn; a tracing, drawing, or sketch of an object or of a piece of work; the traced record of a self-recording instrument; in Fortif. the ground-plan of a work. (In quot. 1861 app. a tracing-instrument.)
1744Akenside Pleas. Imagination iii. 362 Not the sculptur'd gold More faithful keeps the graver's lively trace. 1861Smiles Engineers II. 76 Picked out from the heap were also found his drill,..his trace, his T square,..and his engraving tools. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. i. 21 The trace of a work is the plan of its guiding or magistral line. 1895Col. Maurice in United Service Mag. July 430 He made out both a trace of the work including the interior retrenchment and an exact profile of the ditched parapet. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 847 The respiration is an important factor in the blood-pressure, and in the run of the circulation is apparent to everyone who has watched the traces of the kymograph. 1899T. S. Baldock Cromwell 293 The rampart..was strong and high, and of regular trace.
b. The luminous line or pattern on the screen of a cathode-ray tube.
1937G. Parr Low Voltage Cathode Ray Tube ii. 28 The effect on the trace on the screen is..to break up the line into a series of light and dark patches. 1966D. Bagley Wyatt's Hurricane vi. 156 He blinked them open again and stared at the radar screen, following the sweep of the trace as it swept hypnotically round and round. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. vii. 30 This trace is displayed continuously until erased, so long as the flood beam is maintained in operation.
9. Geom.
a. The track described by a moving point, line, or surface.
b. The intersection of a line or surface with a surface; spec. the intersection of a plane with one of the co-ordinate planes, or with one of the planes of projection.
c. The projection of a line upon a surface (Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895).
1834–47J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. (1851) 287 Let AB, Fig. 71, be the horizontal trace of a vertical plane. 1840Lardner Geom. i. 11 The notion of a mathematical surface may be formed by imagining a mathematical line to move in any manner in space, leaving behind it, as it moves, a trace or track. This trace or track will be a mathematical surface. 1867Thomson & Tait Nat. Phil. I. i. §111 When a body rolls and spins on another body, the trace of either on the other is the curved or straight line along which it is successively touched.
†10. Her. = tract n.3 6 (a), tressure. Obs.
1486Bk. St. Albans, Her. e vij, He berith golde a dowble trace florishyt contrari and a Lyon rampyng of gowles. Ibid., He berith golde a trace triplatit of Siluer.
11. Math. The sum of the elements in the principal diagonal of a matrix.
1938A. A. Albert Mod. Higher Algebra iv. 80 We call T(A) the trace of A. 1958New Scientist 10 July 364/2 If A is a matrix it is usual to denote the transpose of A by A′ or A*, and the trace of A by tr A. 1972Jrnl. Physics B. V. 990 Evaluating the constant of proportionality by taking the trace of each side of the result for the particular case of complete recapture.
12. a. Computers. The detailed examination of the execution of a program or part of one (usu. to investigate a fault) with the aid of another program that can cause individual instructions, operands, and results to be printed or displayed as they are reached by the first program; the analysis so obtained; also, a trace program. Freq. attrib., as trace program, trace routine.
1957M. V. Wilkes et al. Preparation of Programs for Electronic Digital Computer (ed. 2) 96 A useful error-diagnosis subroutine..prints the function letters of orders as they are executed... The printed sequence of function letters is sometimes known as a trace. 1960Gregory & Van Horn Automatic Data-Processing Systems iii. 82 (caption) Trace of operations in read-write loop using an index register. Ibid. viii. 271 A trace routine is used to observe how the object program..operates while it is being executed. 1966Trace program [see snapshot n. 2 b]. 1980N. Rushby in Meek & Heath Guide to Good Programming Practice iii. 84 Some debugging compilers provide a trace, which can be used simply to follow the program flow from statement to statement, or can include details of each assignment. 1982Ghezzi & Jazayeri Programming Language Concepts vii. 221 After the program has terminated, a trace and an indication of the cause of failure can be produced.
b. A request for information to be sought concerning a particular person or thing; an investigation which traces this information (freq. to discover the source of a telephone call).
1974M. Penoyre Breach of Security i. 4, I might put in a trace to London to see if my Office has got anything on him. 1976G. Seymour Glory Boys iv. 49 Very professional. No possibility of a trace on a call of the length they've been using. 1978R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant xxviii. 331 There are men following me... I think it's called a ‘trace’. Put out by you? 1981D. Boggis Time to Betray xxi. 114 He..got the index number... ‘Get me a trace through Yard liaison.’
II.
13. attrib. or as adj. Present or required only in traces.
1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Sept. 195/1 The control..of peat scours by copper in trace amounts. 1956Sun (Baltimore) 1 May 12/7 The oysters..are loaded with trace minerals. 1962Listener 16 Aug. 243/2 It is the selected drug that is actually the effective agent and not trace amounts of some as yet unrecognized contaminant. 1965G. J. Williams Econ. Geol. N.Z. vi. 63/2 To place these figures in petro⁓genetic perspective we must realize that gold is a trace⁓metal—even where concentrated in a payable reef. 1978Sci. Amer. Dec. 124/1 It is the trace ions (those at least 1,000 times less abundant than hydrogen and helium) that serve to control the nebula thermostatically, maintaining the nebular temperature generally between 5,000 and 15,000 degrees. 1979Brit. Med. Jrnl. 15 Dec. 1529/1 Most trace minerals and other micronutrients required for survival are known.
b. Special Comb.: trace element, an element that is present (esp. in the soil) or required only in minute amounts; also fig.; trace fossil Palæont. [tr. G. spurenfossil (K. Krejci-Graf 1932, in Senckenbergiana XIV. 21)], a fossil that represents the burrowing or similar activity of an animal rather than the animal itself.
1932Yale Jrnl. Biol. & Med. IV. 501 Investigation as to the occurrence and function of ‘*trace’ elements in both plant and animal life is now very active. 1954R. L. Parker tr. Niggli's Rocks & Mineral Deposits i. 9 Fundamental rock chemistry need consider only comparatively few elements... This does not mean that relatively rare elements or even the so-called trace elements lack importance. 1970Nature 17 Oct. 251 Trace element analyses of flint show statistically valid differences between products of major British and European Neolithic flint mines. 1976Church Times 16 July 7/2, I found little that has not been said already by many radical Christian writers. There are trace-elements of Marxism, but hardly more than that.
1956Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. CXII. 475 A consideration of the..morphology of the fossil, permits its interpretation as a *trace-fossil resulting from the driving of a system of branching tunnels in the sea-bed sediment. 1974Nature 22 Mar. 328/2 It is generally agreed that the earliest metazoan animals were soft-bodied forms which are rarely preserved but have left tracks, trails and burrows, collectively known as trace fossils.
▪ II. trace, n.2|treɪs|
Forms: see below.
[ME. trays, a. OF. traiz, trais, pl. of trait (12th c. in Littré) action of drawing, rope or leather strap by which a draught-beast is harnessed; = It. tratto, L. tractus draught (u-stem), f. trahĕre to draw. In Eng. written also trayse, trayce, trace, and treated as collect. pl. and at length (c 1400) as a sing. with a new pl. trasys, traces: cf. truce.]
†1. as pl. The pair of ropes, chains, or (subsequently usually) leather straps by which the collar of a draught-animal is connected with the splinter-bar or swingletree. Obs.
Usually collective like tongs, scissors, shears, pincers, etc.; but sometimes a numerical pl., as in quots. 1458, 1481.
4–5 trais, trays, 5 trayse, treyse, trayce, 5–8 trace, 6 treas, 7 tress, traise, traits, 9 dial. traice.
13..Seuyn Sag. (W.) 1327 He let him drawe out of the pit..With trais an two stronge hors. c1350Nom. Gall.-Angl. 884 Esteles, trays et valuere [glossed] Hamys, trays, taylerope. c1365–6Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 568 Pro ij paribus de Trays et ij cartrapes; in trays, cartrapes, capistris, et reynes, xviij s. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1283 With foure white boles in the trays. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 2209 Ryȝt as an hors out of þe traise at large. 1458Nottingham Rec. II. 368 For treyse and oder ropes. 1480Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 123 For v pair trays garnyssht. 1481–90Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 150 Paid to Iohn Wygge, Ropper, for iij. thrays ij.s. ix.d. 1557Lanc. & Chesh. Wills (1884) 61, iiij payre of treas. c1611Chapman Iliad xxiii. 412 His reins lost, or seat, or with the tress His chariot fail'd him. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 16 Collars, Cart-saddles, Traits, thicke clothes, and other furniture for Horses. Ibid. 123 Be carefull that their traise, cart-saddles, collars, bridles, or other parts of their geares, and harnesse, be not torne. 1725Pope Odyss. iv. 861 Twelve young mules, a strong laborious race, New to the plough, unpractis'd in the trace. 1807A. Young Agric. Essex I. 107, 5 pair of plough chain traice.
2. as sing. Each of the individual ropes or leather straps mentioned above; in pl. = sense 1.
(α) sing. 5 trays, -e, trayce, trahys, 7 traise, tress, 9 traice, 6– trace.
14..Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 566/26 Attractorium, a trayne, sed melius, a trays. Ibid. 617/7 Tractorium, a trays. c1440Promp. Parv. 499/1 Trayce, horsys ha(r)neys, tenda. c1475Pict. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 811/33 Hoc retinaculum, a trayse. 1570Levins Manip. 6/44 A Trace for drawing, traha, æ. 1794W. Felton Carriages (1801) II. x. 134 A square, bent ring is sewed in the end [of each trace], which, with the trace, forms a loop to hitch round the splinter-bar rolls.
(β) pl. 5 tracez, traices, 5–6 trasys, -is, 6 trasseis, 6–7 tresses, 6– traces.
1404Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 397, iiij trasys ij try⁓syns rapis. 1405–6Ibid. 400 Rec. pro lez tracez del char. 1497Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 95, iij chestes, Anfeld..j, Traices..cxx pair. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §5 If he go with a hors ploughe, than muste he haue..his hombers or collers, holmes whyted, tresses, swyngletrees, and togwith. 1529Act 21 Hen. VIII, c. 12 §1 Thereof make Cables, Ropes, Halsers, Traces, Halters, and other Tackle. 1569in Richmond Wills (Surtees) 218, vj pair trasis with girthes. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 11 The smaller sort be these..Traces. 1582Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 6 A pare of trasseis vjd. 1607J. Carpenter Plaine Mans Plough 192 Thirdly, the foure Traces or Tresses. 1718Pope Iliad v. 398 His panting steeds..He fix'd with straiten'd traces to the car. 1762Wesley Jrnl. 30 Mar., The horses pulled till the traces broke. 1841Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life (1870) III. viii. 117 About four miles from home one of the traces came undone.
3. fig. (from 1 and 2), esp. in phrases; cf. collar n. 8. † out of trace, out of proper connexion, out of order. into the traces, into regular work. to kick over the traces: see kick v.1 1 c.
c1518Skelton Magnyf. 914 All is out of harre And out of trace. 1824W. Irving T. Trav. I. 203 He was too fond of my genius to force it into the traces. 1843Lytton Last Bar. i. iii, Cut thy trace from the cloister, and take thy road to the shop.
4.
†a. (?) The tug or end-piece of a bell-rope. Obs.
b. Angling. A length of gimp or gut of varying fineness attached to the end of the reel line.
c. Organ-building. In the draw-stop action, a rod which connects the draw-stop rod with the trundle, or the trundle with the lever moving the slider; also called trace-rod.
d. Bot. The fibro-vascular tissue of a stem, of which the leaf-trace is a continuation.
a.1663in Archæol. æliana XVII. 126 For two traces for y⊇ bellroops 6d.
b.1839[see minnow 3]. 1867F. Francis Angling iv. (1880) 105 A tackle called a trace is used. 1883Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 56 Flights and Traces, Floats for various kinds of fishing.
c.1852Seidel Organ 59 The upper end of the roller..is connected.. with the end of a short pole called the trace. 1876–98Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms s.v. Organ, When the stop is pulled out, the arms aa draw the trace b from right to left. 1881C. A. Edwards Organs 90 Another arm communicates with the trace by means of a mortise and pin.
d.1875,1877[see leaf-trace s.v. leaf n.1 18]. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 239 The median bundle of the trace..as it reaches the four bundles of the leaf-trace of the second node curves to one side, and unites with the lateral bundle of the next lower trace. Ibid. 257 Each leaf has three bundles of the trace, one median and two lateral.
5. attrib. and Comb.: trace-beaten a., (of a horse) marked by the beating or friction of the traces; trace-block, the splinter-bar or draught-bar; formerly called the fore-block or fore-bar; trace-boy, a trace-horse boy; trace-buckle, a large buckle by which the trace is attached to the tug (Knight, 1877); trace-bundle Bot.: cf. 4 d above; trace-chain, (a) a trace of chain, a chain trace; † (b) a long chain by which a team is yoked to the plough; = team n. 9; trace-fastener, one of a pair of hooks or catches by which the traces are hitched to the draught-bar (Knight, 1877); trace-galled a., (of a horse) galled by the friction of the traces; trace-harness, harness of trace-horses; trace-high adv., to the level of the traces; trace-hook, one of the hooks on the draught-bar for attaching the traces (Knight, 1877); trace-horse, a horse which draws in traces, as distinct from a shaft-horse; attrib. trace-horse boy, a boy in charge of a trace-horse; trace-iron, one of the upright iron studs round which the traces are looped; trace-loop = trace-ring; trace-mate: see quot.; trace-ring, an iron ring fastened to the end of the trace, by which it is attached to the trace-hook; trace-rod (Organ) = 4 c; trace-rope, a trace made of rope; trace-tug, a strap supporting the trace; † trace-wheel = pulley n.1 2.
1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2287/8 Stolen.., a brown Mare above 14 hands,..*Traise-beaten on her Ribs. 1707Ibid. No. 4295/4 A brown Gelding.., trace-beaten, most on the further Side.
1900Daily News 12 Nov. 3/4 The firemen..having attached drag ropes to the *trace blocks, proceeded to drag the carriage to Government House.
1897Ibid. 31 Mar. 7/1 Daily wages..for *trace-boys 2s. 6d.
1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 293 The rapid longitudinal divisions of the bundle-ring always begin..in a young internode, in the position of the single, or of the median *trace-bundle going to the next leaf above.
1844Stephens Bk. Farm I. 618 The horse is yoked to the swing-trees by light chains, called *trace-chains. 1896Cosmopolitan XX. 398/1 The jangling of trace-chains in the quiet, darkening air, as the workmen return from the fields to the barn.
1673Lond. Gaz. No. 783/4 One Iron Grey Nag..a little *trace Galled.
1885Wellington Weekly News 15 Oct. (E.D.D.) Nine sets of breeching and *trace harness.
1899Somerville & Ross Irish R.M. ix, Horses that ranged from the cart mare, clipped *trace high, to shaggy and leggy three-year-olds.
1844Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1087 In Forfarshire the *trace-horse is harnessed in a different manner. 1907Nation 19 Oct. 79/1 Awaiting the chance of a trace-horse to give our caravan a pull.
1902Daily Chron. 1 July 6/1 One of the horses attached to the fire engine was caught by the *trace-iron on the off side of the cattle-float.
1880L. Wallace Ben-Hur 208 They termed the two [horses] next the pole yoke-steeds, and those on the right and left outside *trace-mates.
1794W. Felton Carriages (1801) II. x. §2. 144 The *Trace-Rings are iron square loops sewed in the ends of the traces, a part of which they receive, and loops round the splinter-bar.
1880E. J. Hopkins in Grove Dict. Mus. (1880) II. 606/1 A *trace-rod, which spans the distance from the trundle to the end of the soundboard... The trundle partly revolves and moves the trace-rod.
1900Daily News 24 Feb. 6/3 The struggling, terrified horses inextricably mixed the *trace ropes, and the position looked serious.
1794W. Felton Carriages (1801) II. x. §1. 135 The *trace⁓tugs are loops for the trace to run through and hang by.
1519W. Horman Vulg. 241 b, There must be made a *trace whele [tympanum] to wynd vp stone.
▪ III. trace, n.3 Obs. or dial.|treɪs|
Forms: 4 trace, 5 pl. trasses, 6 Sc. trase, trais, traiss, 6 (Sc.) 7– dial. trace.
[Possibly an altered form of tress n., with which this largely coincides in sense; but no explanation of the alteration of form presents itself. See also the cognate trace v.3
(The different senses are cited from widely separate localities, so that they can scarcely be considered as a verbal unity, except in their apparent relation to tress.)]
†1. A tress or plait of hair; = tress n. 1. (s.w. Eng.) Obs. (but cf. trace v.3).
c1380Sir Ferumb. 5882 Wyþ eȝene graye, and browes bent, And ȝealwe traces, & fayre y-trent. a1400Trevisa's Higden (Rolls) VIII. vii. 63 Þe ȝelew heere of þe womman trasses [MS. γ. ȝelou tresses; Higden trica comæ mulieris flava] was i-founde hoole and sounde.
†2. A flat plait or braid of gold or silver thread, or other material, for trimming a robe, etc. Sc. Obs.
1539Inv. Roy. Wardr. (1815) 32 Item, ane nycht gowne of gray dammes with ane walting trais of gold. Ibid. 35. [Ibid. p. 42 has tress of silver; 82 tres of gold.] 1543Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VIII. 181 For xx tracis of gold to the cote, weyand thre unce..v li. ij s. 1548Ibid. IX. 149, xxx elnis of trasis to eik ane goun of hirris [= hers] of blak welwote... Item, thre elnis blak welwote to eik this goun. 1549Ibid. 334 Tua unce and ane quarter unce Parice silk to sew the pasmentis and traiss of the said coit.
3. A string of ears of Indian corn plaited together so as to be hung up. (N. Amer.)
1678Phil. Trans. XII. 1066 After 'tis gather'd, it [maize] must, except laid very thin, be presently stripped from the Husks... The common way (which they call Tracing) is to weave the Ears together in long Traces by some parts of the Husk left thereon. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v. Tracing, These traces of [Indian] corn they hang up within doors,..and they will..keep good the whole winter.
b. A ‘rope’ or string of onions. dial.
1891Hartland (Devon) Gloss., Trace, a rope of onions. [Cf. Trecces de cepis in same sense, in Tabularia Portus Regii (Du Cange).] (Cf. also race n.1 9 b.)
▪ IV. trace, v.1|treɪs|
Forms: 4 trais(e, 4–7 trase, 4– trace.
[ME. trace-n, a. OF. tracier, 12th c. (trasser, traser, traicier, etc.), F. trace-r = Sp. trazar, It. tracciare to follow by foot, to trace, indicating a pop.L. or Com. Romanic *tractiāre, f. L. tractus a drawing, dragging, trailing, crawling; a train, track, course. The primary meaning of the verb was app. ‘to proceed in a line, course, or track’. The early sense-development in OF. and ME. is not very clear, and some of the senses attach themselves immediately to trace n.1 in its sense of ‘mark left by anything moving, footprint’, itself a derivative of the vb. in its earlier senses.]
I.
†1. intr. To take one's course, make one's way; to proceed, pass, go, travel, tread. Also fig.
c1400Rom. Rose 6745 Yit may he go his breed begging; Fro dore to dore he may go trace, Til he the remenaunt may purchace. a1400Morte Arth. 1629 Traise to-warde Troys þe tresone to wyrke. 1503Hawes Examp. Virt. x. viii, No man by yonde this marke may trace. 1513Douglas æneis viii. v. 5 The prestis..Gan trasing furth. a1518Skelton Magnyf. 692 As good to be occupyed as vp and downe to trace And do nothynge. 1598Mucedorus iv. iii. 52 The wood lanes..strawed With violets, cowslips, and swete marigolds For thee to trampel and to trace vpon. 1603H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 23 Induce them..to trace in the wholsome path that leadeth to the house of honour. a1688Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Restoration Wks. (1775) 104 Fall off again,..and every man trace to his house again. 1793Minstrel II. 126 The forest, which she did not chuse to enter, but traced along its edge.
†2. intr. To pace or step in dancing; to tread a measure; to dance. Also trans. (rare). Obs.
c1425Lydg. Dance of Macabre in Bochas, etc. (1554) 220 b, Death I may not flee, On this daunce with other for to trace. 1445in Anglia XXVIII. 273 Orpheus harpe which trees made trace. 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) II. 290 To hunt to chace: to daunce: to trace: what one is he That beryth face. 1602Heywood Woman Killed Wks. 1874 II. 96 Come, Nick, take you Ioane Miniuer to trace withall. 1697W. Dampier Voy. (1729) I. 541 They traced too and fro promiscuously, often clapping their Hands and singing aloud. 1808Scott Marm. v. vii, The king loved well The merry dance, traced fast and light.
†3. trans. To pass along or over, tread (a path, way, street, etc.). Also fig. Obs.
c1381Chaucer Parl. Foules 54 Oure present wor[l]dis lyuys space Nys but a maner deth what weye we trace. 1580Sidney Ps. viii. viii, The fish,..And what thing els of waters traceth The unworn paths. 1621J. Reynolds God's Rev. agst. Murder i. i. 5 Tracing the street in a neate perfumed boote with iangling spurres. 1650Fuller Pisgah iii. xii. 343 The passage..commonly called the dolorous way,..traced with the blessed feet of our Saviour. 1794Blake Songs Exper., Lit. Girl Found 8 Arm in arm seven days They traced the desert ways.
fig.1508Fisher 7 Penit. Ps. Prol., Wks. (E.E.T.S.) I. 2 That al tho persones that ententyfely rede or here them may be styred the better to trace the way of eternall salvacion.
†4. trans. To travel or range over; to go or pass about, around, or through; to tread, traverse.
1430–40Lydg. Bochas vi. iv. (Bodl. MS. 263) lf. 314/2 Fond no loggyng, tracing the contres Saue in kauernys, & in holwe trees. 1577Grange Golden Aphrod. G j b, My harte it dothe bothe skippe and ioye to see hir trace the grounde. 1594Marlowe & Nashe Dido i. i, But hapless I..Do trace these Lybian deserts, all despis'd. 1598Hakluyt Voy. I. 235 We sayled..with diuers other courses, trauersing and tracing the seas, by reason of sundry and manifolde contrary windes. 1632Lithgow Trav. ix. 412, I traced the fertile soyles of Carindia. 1807Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 306 He soon arrived, he traced the village green.
II.
5. a. To follow the footprints or traces of; esp. to track by the footprints; also with the traces as object; hence, to pursue, to dog.
c1440Pallad. on Husb. Tab. 39 Been forto trace vnto their dwellyng. 1530Palsgr. 760/2 It is forbydden to trace hares in snowe tyme. 1559Mirr. Mag., Owen Glendour xxxi, So traste they me among the mountaynes wide. 1605Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 153 His Wife, his Babes, and all vnfortunate Soules That trace him in his Line. 1632Lithgow Trav. i. 17 Still left vntold, something there must be seene For them, who trace our feete, with Argus eyne. 1677W. Hubbard Narrative (1865) II. 124 By the help of the Snow that fell about that Time, [they] were traced till they were overtaken. 1841Elphinstone Hist. India I. 123 Bound to find out the possessor of any stolen property within the township, or to trace him till he has passed the boundary. 1886C. E. Pascoe London of To-day xxi. (ed. 3) 207 We might have traced Thackeray through his wanderings from street to street. a1913Mod. Note the number of the postal order, so that it may be traced if lost.
b. fig. To follow, pursue (instructions, example, etc.).
1649W. Blithe Eng. Improv. Impr. (1653) 100 Observe my Method, and strictly trace my Instructions. 1745Transl. & Paraphr. Sc. Ch. lii. i, You who the Name of Jesus bear, His holy Footsteps trace.
6. fig. To follow the course, development, or history of. Also with the course, etc. as object.
1654Bramhall Just Vind. v. (1661) 90 If we trace on this argument a little further, to search out how the Bishop of Rome comes to be Saint Peters heire. 1729Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 168 The common virtues, and the common vices of mankind, may be traced up to benevolence, or the want of it. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. xiv. 236 The tracing the inheritance back through the male line of ancestors. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. iv. I. 503 No libel on the government had ever been traced to a Quaker. 1887Westm. Rev. June 309 We have traced the history of Lower Canada down to the year 1839.
b. intr. for pass. To trace its origin or history; to go back in time, to date back.
1876Rep. Vermont Board Agric. III. 107 The farmer loses sight of the fact that the character of the calf..may ‘trace back’, as it is termed, to a remote ancestor. 1886Field 4 Sept. 346/1 The Belvoir Senator and the Brocklesby Harbinger traced directly to the Fitzwilliam. 1889Jacobs & Lang æsop's Fables 53 The earliest form..cannot trace back earlier than the third..century. 1907Daily Chron. 9 Sept. 3/2 The scare of invasion traces to the Armada of 1588.
7. a. trans. To make out and follow (with the eye or mind) the course or line of; to ascertain (the course or line of something).
1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus., Euphrates, etc. (1732) 2 Its Walls, which may be traced all round. 1779Mirror No. 9 ⁋3, I..amused myself with tracing in the daughters, those features which, in the mothers and grandmothers, had charmed me so often. 1818in Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire Introd. 8 The stream of this mysterious river [the Niger] being now traced with certainty from west to east as far as Tombuctoo. 1839Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxxvii. 572 In situations where the boulders may be traced..to their parent rocks. 1856Stanley Sinai & Pal. i. 19 Often their course can be traced, not by visible water, but a track of moss here, a fringe of rushes there. 1907Verney Mem. I. 2 The form of the ancient manor house may still be traced.
b. To make out (worn or obscure writing); to discern, decipher.
1761Gray Odin 22 Thrice he traced the runic rhyme. 1792S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. i. 137 It calls me..to trace The few fond lines that Time may soon efface. 1859Jephson Brittany ii. 17 The characters may still be traced on a block of granite.
c. To make a tracing of (a listed item); to derive (a tracing) from an index or catalogue; see tracing vbl. n.1 1 b.
1905N.Y. State Library Bull. No. 95. 578 See that every secondary card is traced on one or both main cards. 1914[see tracing vbl. n.1 1 b]. 1926Amer. Speech II. 93 The catalog cards are ‘main entry’ cards and ‘secondary entry’ cards, the latter being ‘traced’ from the former.
8. a. To discover, find out, or ascertain by investigation; to find out step by step; to search out.
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. i. 359 God..varieth his ways of dealing with wantons, that they may be at a losse in tracing him. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 699 Happy the Man, who, studying Nature's Laws, Thro' known Effects can trace the secret Cause. 1745Transl. & Paraphr. Sc. Ch. xxii. iv, Tho' him thou can'st not see, nor trace the working of his hands. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey II. 306 Tracing a connection..where in reality none exists.
b. To discover evidence of the existence or occurrence of; to find traces of.
1697Dryden æneid Ded. (1721) 350 He observes no Method that I can trace, whatever Scaliger the Father, or Heinsius, may have seen. 1782F. Burney Cecilia viii. ix, The earliest circumstances she could trace were kindnesses received from her. 1856Ruskin Mod. Paint. III. iv. x. §8 There is a great deal more in your heart, of evil and good, than you ever can trace. a1862Buckle Civiliz. (1871) III. v. 367 Black..called it latent heat, because though we conceive it as an idea, we cannot trace it as a fact.
c. Computers. To subject (a program) to a trace (trace n.1 12 a).
1959M. H. Wrubel Primer of Programming for Digital Computers v. 107 When a program is traced, the machine produces a record of each instruction as it is performed. 1967Klerer & Korn Digital Computer User's Handbk. i. i. 23 The location limits of the program segments to be traced enter as initial parameters to the trace program. 1981L. A. Hill Structured Programming in FORTRAN iii. 73 The program is traced in Table 3–6 with Rule 4 relaxed.
III. 9. trans. To mark, make marks upon; esp. to mark or ornament with lines, figures, or characters: cf. tracery.
a1400–50Alexander 4914 Þe testre trased full of trones with trimballand wingis þe silloure full of Seraphens. 1523Skelton Garl. Laurel 395 With diamauntes and rubis there tabers were trasid. 1582D. Ingram in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 558 The haire of their heads is shauen in sundry spots, and the rest of their head is traced [? tattooed]. 1832Tennyson Pal. Art xiii, The deep-set windows, stain'd and traced, Would seem slow-flaming crimson fires From shadow'd grots of arches interlaced. 1858Whittier Palm-Tree 24 He holds a palm-leaf scroll in his hands, Traced with the Prophet's wise commands. 1890Daily News 6 Jan. 5/2 Stockings and buckles were richly traced; the pocket was often a blaze of the richest embroidery.
10. To make a plan, diagram, or chart of (something existing or to be constructed); to mark out the course of (a road, etc.) on, or by means of, a plan or map; to mark or set out (the lines of a work or road) on the ground itself. Also fig., to devise (a plan of action), map out (a policy).
1374–5,1399[implied in tracing-house, -board: see tracing vbl. n.1 5]. 1599Porter Angry Wom. Abingd. (Percy Soc.) 60 When I had doubled my poynt, traste my ground. 1624Ld. Kensington in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. III. 173 What they traced out for the breaking of the match, you follow, pretending to conclude it. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) I. 66 The castle [in Milan], by which the citadel of Antwerp was traced. 1669Staynred Fortification 6 Tables..Whereby you may trace out any Fort by help of a Line of Equal Parts. 1696Phillips (ed. 5), To Trace, to draw upon Paper the plane of a Building or Fortification. 1834L. Ritchie Wand. Seine 120 Rollo's..path, like that of other conquerors, was traced in blood and ashes. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 212 The Ermine Street, notwithstanding all the centuries which have passed since it was first traced out and paved, is still distinguished from a yet older track.
11. a. To draw; to draw an outline or figure of; also, to put down in writing, to pen. [So OF. tracier.]
1390Gower Conf. III. 46 Babilla with hire Sones sevene..With Cernes bothe square and rounde He traceth ofte upon the grounde. c1440Promp. Parv. 499/1 Tracyn, or draw strykys, protraho. 1665Boyle Occas. Refl. v. iii. heading, Killing a Crow.., and immediately tracing the ensuing Reflection with a Pen made of one of his Quills. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 96 Then trace upon the Ground the Triangle CDE. 1859Gullick & Timbs Paint. 8 The mode of commencing a picture by tracing the outline was followed by the early oil painters. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men I. i. 26 These last [annotations] were evidently traced by fingers rendered tremulous by age.
b. To copy (a drawing, plan, etc.) by following the lines of the original drawing on a transparent sheet placed upon it; to make a tracing of.
1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) V. 211 There were an hundred and four heads, hands and feet, traced off from the Cartoons. 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay iii, They practiced duets together, and traced patterns.
IV.
†12. In phr. trace and traverse, trace and rase, in reference to combatants: sense uncertain: cf. race v.3, rase v.1, and traverse v. Obs.
1470–85Malory Arthur vi. viii. 194 Thus they ferd two houres or mo trasyng and rasyng eyther other where they myght hytte ony bare place. Ibid. vii. iv. 217 They rasshyd to gyders lyke borys tracynge, rasynge and foynynge to the mountenaunce of an houre. Ibid. x. xxx. 463 Thus they tracyd and trauercyd and hewe on helmes and hawberkes... And euer sire Tristram tracyd and trauercyd and wente forward hym here and there. 1596Spenser F.Q. v. viii. 37 Thus long they trast, and trauerst to and fro.
Hence traced |treɪst| ppl. a.1, † (a) travelled, journeyed: with adverbial qualification (obs.); (b) outlined, drawn, written; ˈtracing ppl. a., that traces or draws lines.
1632Lithgow Trav. vii. (1906) 293 My life and liberty being deare to me, my long traced feete became more nimble in twelve score paces, then they could follow in eighteene. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 92 The traced Line AB. 1875T. Seaton Fret-Cutting 146 Place the edge of the tool on the traced line. 1884Mil. Engineering (ed. 3) I. ii. 21 A sapper should be stationed..to await the arrival of the tracing party. 1907Daily Chron. 24 Jan. 8/1 The spiral..must be skated boldly,..the knee of the tracing leg rather strongly bent.
Add:[II.] [7.] d. To follow or make out (a course, line, etc.) with one's finger. Also with the finger as subj.
1931A. Uttley Country Child x. 124 Her fingers traced the way, round corners to her high attic, where..she climbed into bed and fell asleep. 1939R. P. Warren Night Rider xiii. 315 He held the book in his left hand and his right forefinger traced each line as he read it. 1972T. Keneally Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith v. 34 His fingers traced padmarks along the edge of the road and into tussocks on the verge. 1980D. Bogarde Gentle Occupation v. 114 She leaned up from him and traced his throat with her finger. 1984K. Hulme Bone People (1985) ii. 52 Simon is tracing the intricacies of the tatami mat with his forefinger.
▪ V. † trace, v.2 Obs. rare.
[f. trace n.2]
trans. To attach by traces, to harness in traces.
1605Stow Ann. 1432 They [Bayliffs of the Town] presented him with three-score and ten Teeme of horse, all traced to faire new Ploughes. 1656Cowley Pind. Odes, Muse i, Go, the rich Chariot instantly prepare;..Unruly Phansie with strong Judgment trace, Put in nimble-footed Wit. 1786Burns Inventory 20 My furr-ahin's a wordy beast, As e'er in tug or tow was trac'd.
▪ VI. trace, v.3 Obs. exc. local.
Forms: 4–5 trase, (pa. pple. trased, trast), 7– trace.
[Belongs to trace n.3; possibly an altered form of tress v.]
1. trans. To plait, twine, interweave, braid. Also with up.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1739 Þe haȝer stones Trased aboute hir tressour, be twenty in clusteres. c1450Holland Howlat 405 Mony schene scheld With tuscheis of trast silk tichit to the tre. 1613–16W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. iv. 320 A little lad..Tracing greene rushes for a winter chayre. Ibid. 358 As oft as I..Trace the sharpe rushes ends. 1678[see trace n.3 3]. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Tracing,..a term used by our planters for the method of preserving the maize... [They] trace it, that is, they leave it in the ear, and weave, or fasten together a great number of ears by the ends of the husks. 1884Vermont Agric. Rep. VIII. 285 The ears thus selected should be ‘traced up’ and hung away to dry. 1888Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk., Trace, to plait (always) ‘I can't only trace dree, but our Jim can trace zix’ [plait six strands together]. 1941Old Farmer's Almanac 70 In the early fall the farmers would speak of ‘tracing up’ the yellow ears of corn to hang from the beams of the woodshed.
2. To plait or braid the hair of the head in tresses; = tress v. 1.
1832R. & J. Lander Exped. Niger I. i. 41 Her hair was traced with such extraordinary neatness, that we expressed a wish to examine it more minutely. 1905Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. (W. Cornwall), She traces her hair every day.
Hence traced ppl. a.2; ˈtracing vbl. n.2, interweaving, embroidering, braiding; also attrib.
c1450Trast [see sense 1]. 1549Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. IX. 334 Thre score thre elnis trasing silk to the samyn coit. 1681Scot. Proclam. 1 Mar., Silver and gold threde, silver and gold lace, fringes or tracing. 1808–25Jamieson s.v., A traced hat is a hat bound with gold lace.
▪ VII. trace
obs. erron. form of trice n. and v. |