What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Trace vs Effect - What's the difference?

trace | effect |

As verbs the difference between trace and effect

is that trace is while effect is to make or bring about; to implement.

As a noun effect is

the result or outcome of a cause see below .

trace

English

(wikipedia trace)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) trace, traas, from (etyl) , from the verb (see below).

Noun

(en noun)
  • An act of tracing.
  • A mark left as a sign of passage of a person or animal.
  • A very small amount.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=7 citation , passage=The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.}}
  • (electronics) An electric current-carrying conductive pathway on a printed circuit board.
  • An informal road or prominent path in an arid area.
  • One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending from the collar or breastplate to a whippletree attached to a vehicle or thing to be drawn; a tug.
  • (fortification) The ground plan of a work or works.
  • The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.
  • (mathematics) The sum of the diagonal elements of a square matrix.
  • Derived terms
    * downtrace, uptrace
    Synonyms
    * (mark left as a sign of passage of a person or animal) track, trail * (small amount) see also .

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) tracen, from (etyl) tracer, .

    Verb

  • To follow the trail of.
  • * Milton
  • I feel thy power to trace the ways / Of highest agents.
    (Cowper)
  • To follow the history of.
  • * T. Burnet
  • You may trace the deluge quite round the globe.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=July 19 , author=Ella Davies , title=Sticks insects survive one million years without sex , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=They traced the ancient lineages of two species to reveal the insects' lengthy history of asexual reproduction.}}
  • To draw or sketch lightly or with care.
  • He carefully traced the outlines of the old building before him.
  • To copy onto a sheet of paper superimposed over the original, by drawing over its lines.
  • (obsolete) To copy; to imitate.
  • * Denham
  • That servile path thou nobly dost decline, / Of tracing word, and line by line.
  • (obsolete) To walk; to go; to travel.
  • * Spenser
  • Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace .
  • (obsolete) To walk over; to pass through; to traverse.
  • * Shakespeare
  • We do trace this alley up and down.

    Anagrams

    * * * * * ----

    effect

    English

    (wikipedia effect)

    Noun

  • The result or outcome of a cause. See below.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect , and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=1 citation , passage=The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. […]  The bed was the most extravagant piece.  Its graceful cane halftester rose high towards the cornice and was so festooned in carved white wood that the effect was positively insecure, as if the great couch were trimmed with icing sugar.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Obama goes troll-hunting , passage=The solitary, lumbering trolls of Scandinavian mythology would sometimes be turned to stone by exposure to sunlight. Barack Obama is hoping that several measures announced on June 4th will have a similarly paralysing effect on their modern incarnation, the patent troll.}}
  • Impression left on the mind; sensation produced.
  • * J. C. Shairp
  • patchwork introduced for oratorical effect
  • * Washington Irving
  • The effect was heightened by the wild and lonely nature of the place.
  • (filmology) An illusion produced by technical means (as in "special effect")
  • (sound engineering) An alteration in sound after it has been produced by an instrument.
  • (sound engineering) A device for producing an alteration in sound produced by an instrument.
  • Execution; performance; realization; operation.
  • * Shakespeare
  • That no compunctious visitings of nature / Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between / The effect and it.
  • # (uncountable) The state of being binding and enforceable, as in a rule, policy, or law.
  • A scientific phenomenon, usually named after its discoverer.
  • (usually plural) Belongings, usually as personal effects.
  • Consequence intended; purpose; meaning; general intent; with to .
  • * Bible, Chron. xxxiv. 22
  • They spake to her to that effect .
  • (obsolete) Reality; actual meaning; fact, as distinguished from mere appearance.
  • * Denham
  • no other in effect than what it seems
  • (obsolete) Manifestation; expression; sign.
  • * Shakespeare
  • All the large effects / That troop with majesty.

    Usage notes

    The words “affect” and “effect'” can both be used as nouns or verbs, but when used as a noun the word affect is limited to uses in the psychology field, and the above definitions for ' effect are much more common. See also the usage notes as a verb below. Adjectives often applied to "effect": * biological, chemical, cultural, economic, legal, mental, moral, nutritional, personal, physical, physiological, political and social * actual, bad, beneficial, catastrophic, deleterious, disastrous, devastating, fatal, good, harmful, important, intended, likely, natural, negative, positive, potential, primary, real, secondary, significant, special, strong, undesirable and weak

    Derived terms

    (noun phrases using effect) * after-effect, aftereffect * butterfly effect * domino effect * Doppler effect * greenhouse effect * in effect * knock-on effect * Nader effect * personal effects * ripple effect * side effect * snowball effect * special effect * sound effect * spoiler effect

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make or bring about; to implement.
  • The best way to effect change is to work with existing stakeholders.
  • Usage notes

    Effect' is often confused with “' affect ”. The latter is used to convey the influence over existing ideas, emotions and entities; the former indicates the manifestation of new or original ideas or entities: * “...new governing coalitions have effected major changes” indicates that major changes were made as a result of new governing coalitions. * “...new governing coalitions have affected major changes” indicates that before new governing coalitions, major changes were in place, and that the new governing coalitions had some influence over these existing changes.

    Statistics

    *