Trait

How to spell trait

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce trait

What does trait mean?

1. nounA distinguishing quality or feature, especially of a person's character.

Trait in a sentence

• Patience is a useful trait in any negotiator.

• The report listed curiosity as her strongest trait at work.

Where does trait come from?

Language of origin: French

This word travelled into English from French trait, which meant a stroke, a line, or a touch of the pen or brush. The French form descends from the Latin tractus, the past participle of trahere, meaning 'to draw, drag, or pull', so the underlying idea was something drawn out as a line or stroke. English first borrowed it in the 1500s in its literal sense of a stroke or short line, and only later did it settle into the now familiar meaning of a distinguishing feature of a person's character, as though each quality were a defining line in a portrait. The same Latin trahere lies behind a whole family of English words, including 'tractor', 'attract', and 'extract', all carrying the idea of drawing or pulling. Knowing that the word is really a French 'stroke of the pen' helps explain why it keeps the silent vowel run 'ai' before the final t rather than being spelled the simpler way it often sounds.

How the word is built

• trait (from Latin tractus: a drawing or pulling, hence a distinguishing 'line' of character)