Trace \Trace\, n. (Mech.) A connecting bar or rod, pivoted at each end to the end of another piece, for transmitting motion, esp. from one plane to another; specif., such a piece in an organ-stop action to transmit motion from the trundle to the lever actuating the stop slider.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Primitive \Prim"i*tive\, a. [L. primitivus, fr. primus the first: cf. F. primitif. See Prime, a.]

1. Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church. ``Our primitive great sire.'' --Milton.

2. Of or pertaining to a former time; old-fashioned; characterized by simplicity; as, a primitive style of dress.

3. Original; primary; radical; not derived; as, primitive verb in grammar.

Primitive axes of co["o]rdinate (Geom.), that system of axes to which the points of a magnitude are first referred, with reference to a second set or system, to which they are afterward referred.

Primitive chord (Mus.), that chord, the lowest note of which is of the same literal denomination as the fundamental base of the harmony; -- opposed to derivative. --Moore (Encyc. of Music).

Primitive circle (Spherical Projection), the circle cut from the sphere to be projected, by the primitive plane.

Primitive colors (Paint.), primary colors. See under Color.

Primitive Fathers (Eccl.), the acknowledged Christian writers who flourished before the Council of Nice, A. D. 325. --Shipley.

Primitive groove (Anat.), a depression or groove in the epiblast of the primitive streak. It is not connected with the medullary groove, which appears later and in front of it.

Primitive plane (Spherical Projection), the plane upon which the projections are made, generally coinciding with some principal circle of the sphere, as the equator or a meridian.

Primitive rocks (Geol.), primary rocks. See under Primary.

Primitive sheath. (Anat.) See Neurilemma.

Primitive streak or trace (Anat.), an opaque and thickened band where the mesoblast first appears in the vertebrate blastoderm.

Syn: First; original; radical; pristine; ancient; primeval; antiquated; old-fashioned.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Trace \Trace\, n. [F. trace. See Trace, v. t. ]

1. A mark left by anything passing; a track; a path; a course; a footprint; a vestige; as, the trace of a carriage or sled; the trace of a deer; a sinuous trace. --Milton.

2. (Chem. & Min.) A very small quantity of an element or compound in a given substance, especially when so small that the amount is not quantitatively determined in an analysis; -- hence, in stating an analysis, often contracted to tr.

3. A mark, impression, or visible appearance of anything left when the thing itself no longer exists; remains; token; vestige.

The shady empire shall retain no trace Of war or blood, but in the sylvan chase. --Pope.

4. (Descriptive Geom. & Persp.) The intersection of a plane of projection, or an original plane, with a coordinate plane.

5. (Fort.) The ground plan of a work or works.

Syn.-Vestige; mark; token. See Vestige.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Trace \Trace\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. traced; p. pr. & vb. n. tracing.]

[OF. tracier, F. tracer, from (assumed) LL. tractiare, fr.L. tractus, p. p. of trahere to draw. Cf. Abstract, Attract, Contract, Portratt, Tract, Trail, Train, Treat. ]

1. To mark out; to draw or delineate with marks; especially, to copy, as a drawing or engraving, by following the lines and marking them on a sheet superimposed, through which they appear; as, to trace a figure or an outline; a traced drawing.

Some faintly traced features or outline of the mother and the child, slowly lading into the twilight of the woods. --Hawthorne.

2. To follow by some mark that has been left by a person or thing which has preceded; to follow by footsteps, tracks, or tokens. --Cowper.

You may trace the deluge quite round the globe. --T. Burnet.

I feel thy power . . . to trace the ways Of highest agents. --Milton.

3. Hence, to follow the trace or track of.

How all the way the prince on footpace traced. --Spenser.

4. To copy; to imitate.

That servile path thou nobly dost decline, Of tracing word, and line by line. --Denham.

5. To walk over; to pass through; to traverse.

We do tracethis alley up and down. --Shak.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Trace \Trace\, n. [F. trais. pl. of trait. See Trait.]

One of two straps, chains, or ropes of a harness, extending from the collar or breastplate to a whiffletree attached to a vehicle or thing to be drawn; a tug.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Trace \Trace\, v. i. To walk; to go; to travel. [Obs.]

Not wont on foot with heavy arms to trace. --Spenser.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)