Etymology Explorer › Middle English

Where does “trace” come from?

trace (Middle English) comes from Old French trace, from Old French tracier, from Latin tractiāre, from Latin tractus, from Latin trahere, from Latin traho, from Proto-Italic traɣō, from Proto-Indo-European tregʰ- — to run.

trace (Middle English): A trail, track or road; a pathway or route; One's...

Definitions

  1. A trail, track or road; a pathway or route; One's...

Ancestry of “trace”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchtracetrace
2Old Frenchtracier—
3Latintractiāre—
4Latintractusdragged, having been dragged; trailed, having...
5Latintraheresecond-person singular future passive indicative...
6LatintrahoI drag, pull; I trail; I extract, withdraw
7Proto-Italictraɣō—
8Proto-Indo-Europeantregʰ-to drag, pull?; to run, walk
9Proto-Indo-Europeandʰregʰ-to run

Words derived from “trace”

  • trace
  • traced
  • traceable
  • tracer
  • tracery
  • traceability
  • untraceable
  • traceroute
  • radiotracer
  • traceback
  • untraced
  • traceried
  • traceless
  • raytraced
  • backtrace
  • tracee
  • traceological
  • tracepoint
  • traceably
  • untraceably
  • tracelessly
  • nontraced
  • tracelessness
  • untrace
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰregʰ- →