What is the meaning of trace?

noun

• A just detectable amount.
  • usage: "he speaks French with a trace of an accent"
  • synonyms: hint, suggestion
• An indication that something has been present.
  • usage: "there wasn't a trace of evidence for the claim"; "a tincture of condescension"
  • synonyms: vestige, tincture, shadow
• A suggestion of some quality.
  • usage: "there was a touch of sarcasm in his tone"; "he detected a ghost of a smile on her face"
  • synonyms: touch, ghost
• A drawing created by superimposing a semitransparent sheet of paper on the original image and copying on it the lines of the original image.
  • synonyms: tracing
• Either of two lines that connect a horse's harness to a wagon or other vehicle or to a whiffletree.
• A visible mark (as a footprint) left by the passage of person or animal or vehicle.

verb

• Follow, discover, or ascertain the course of development of something.
  • usage: "We must follow closely the economic development is Cuba"; "trace the student's progress"
  • synonyms: follow
• Make a mark or lines on a surface.
  • usage: "draw a line"; "trace the outline of a figure in the sand"
  • synonyms: draw, line, describe, delineate
• To go back over again.
  • usage: "we retraced the route we took last summer"; "trace your path"
  • synonyms: retrace
• Pursue or chase relentlessly.
  • usage: "The hunters traced the deer into the woods"; "the detectives hounded the suspect until they found him"
  • synonyms: hound, hunt
• Discover traces of.
  • usage: "She traced the circumstances of her birth"
• Make one's course or travel along a path; travel or pass over, around, or along.
  • usage: "The children traced along the edge of the dark forest"; "The women traced the pasture"
• Copy by following the lines of the original drawing on a transparent sheet placed upon it; make a tracing of.
  • usage: "trace a design"; "trace a pattern"
• Read with difficulty.
  • usage: "Can you decipher this letter"; "The archeologist traced the hieroglyphs"
  • synonyms: decipher