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Trace vs Record - What's the difference?

trace | record |

As a verb trace

is .

As a noun record is

record.

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

    * * * * * ----

    record

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) , from recorder. See .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An item of information put into a temporary or permanent physical medium.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2012, month=March-April
    • , author=John T. Jost , title=Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)? , volume=100, issue=2, page=162 , magazine=(American Scientist) citation , passage=He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record .}}
    The person had a record of the interview so she could review her notes.
    The tourist's photographs and the tape of the police call provide a record of the crime.
  • Any instance of a physical medium on which information was put for the purpose of preserving it and making it available for future reference.
    • We have no record of you making this payment to us.
  • A vinyl disc on which sound is recorded and may be replayed on a phonograph.
    • I still like records better than CDs.
  • (computing) A set of data relating to a single individual or item.
  • The most extreme known value of some achievement, particularly in competitive events.
    • The heat and humidity were both new records .
    The team set a new record for most points scored in a game.
    Synonyms
    * log * (information put into a lasting physical medium) * (vinyl disk) disc/disk * (most extreme known value)
    Derived terms
    * activation record * for the record * of record * on record * off the record * on the record * record-breaking * public record * world record

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make a record of information.
    • I wanted to record every detail of what happened, for the benefit of future generations.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=September 7 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Moldova 0-5 England , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The display and result must be placed in the context that was it was against a side that looked every bit their Fifa world ranking of 141 - but England completed the job with efficiency to record their biggest away win in 19 years.}}
  • Specifically, to make an audio or video recording of.
    • Within a week they had recorded both the song and the video for it.
  • * '>citation
  • (legal) To give legal status to by making an official public record.
    • When the deed was recorded , we officially owned the house.
  • To fix in a medium, usually in a tangible medium.
  • To make an audio, video, or multimedia recording.
  • (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To repeat; to practice.
  • (ambitransitive, obsolete) To sing or repeat a tune.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • * W. Browne
    • whether the birds or she recorded best
  • * Fairfax
    • They longed to see the day, to hear the lark / Record her hymns, and chant her carols blest.
  • (obsolete) To reflect; to ponder.
  • * Fuller
    • Praying all the way, and recording upon the words which he before had read.
    Derived terms
    * recordable * recorder * recording

    Antonyms

    * (make a record of information) erase * (make an audio or video recording of) erase