means A trace is a tiny remaining mark or sign that something existed, happened, or passed by — or the act of following such marks to their source, or carefully copying a line.

from From Old French 'tracier' (to make one's way, follow a path), descended from Latin 'tractus,' meaning a dragging or drawing-out — the past participle of 'trahere,' to pull or drag. So a trace is, at root, the line something leaves when it's dragged along: the furrow of a path, the streak of a passing thing. The same Latin 'trahere' pulls its weight in 'tractor,' 'attract,' and 'extract' — all cousins in the business of dragging.