Where does “tracing” come from?
Tracing comes from Middle English tracyng, formed with the Middle English suffix -ing from Old English -ing and Old English -ung, ultimately deriving from Latin trahere meaning "to pull or drag."
tracing (English): The reproduction of an image made by copying it...
Definitions
- The reproduction of an image made by copying it...
Ancestry of “tracing”, step by step
tracing traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Middle English tracyng
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | tracyng | A tracing or duplication |
| 2 | Middle English | tracen | To go along a set route; to follow an itinerary... |
| 3 | Old French | tracer | — |
| 4 | Old French | trac | track of horses, trail, trace; track; a track,... |
| 5 | Middle Dutch | treck | — |
| 6 | Old Dutch | trecken | — |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | *trakkjan | to drag |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | trakjaną | to drag |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | -janą | Derives denominatives from nouns and factitives... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -yéti | Creates intransitive, often deponent,... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | yé- | — |
| 12 | Chichewa | iye | he, she |
via English trace
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | trace | An act of tracing; An enquiry sent out for a... |
| 2 | Middle English | trace | A trail, track or road; a pathway or route; One's... |
| 3 | Old French | trace | trace (markings showing where one has been) |
| 4 | Old French | tracier | — |
| 5 | Latin | tractiāre | trace, score, delineate |
| 6 | Latin | tractus | dragged, having been dragged; trailed, having... |
| 7 | Latin | trahere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 8 | Latin | traho | I drag, pull; I trail; I extract, withdraw |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | traɣō | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | tregʰ- | to drag, pull?; to run, walk |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰregʰ- | to run |