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Trace vs Hint - What's the difference?

trace | hint | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between trace and hint

is that trace is to copy onto a sheet of paper superimposed over the original, by drawing over its lines while hint is to develop and add hints to a font.

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.
    Related terms
    * tracing

    Anagrams

    * * * * * ----

    hint

    English

    (wikipedia hint)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A clue.
  • A tacit suggestion that avoids a direct statement.
  • A small, barely detectable amount of.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
    • , chapter=2 citation , passage=Mother very rightly resented the slightest hint of condescension. She considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom,
  • Information in a computer-based font that suggests how the outlines of the font's glyphs should be distorted in order to produce, at specific sizes, a visually appealing pixel-based rendering. Also known as hinting .
  • (obsolete) An opportunity; occasion; fit time.
  • * 1610 , , act 1 scene 2
    • I, not remembering how I cried out then, / Will cry it o'er again: it is a hint / That wrings mine eyes to't.

    Synonyms

    * (small amount) see also .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To suggest tacitly without a direct statement; to provide a clue.
    • She hinted at the possibility of a recount of the votes .
  • * {{quote-book, year=1913, author=
    • , title=Lord Stranleigh Abroad , chapter=4 citation , passage=“I have tried, as I hinted , to enlist the co-operation of other capitalists, but experience has taught me that any appeal is futile that does not impinge directly upon cupidity. … .”}}
  • To bring to mind by a slight mention or remote allusion; to suggest in an indirect manner.
    • to hint a suspicion
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Just hint a fault and hesitate dislike.
  • To develop and add hints to a font.
    • The typographer worked all day on hinting her new font so it would look good on computer screens .

    Synonyms

    * allude * imply * insinuate * suggest

    Anagrams

    * ----