track

Pronunciation

• IPA: /træk/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English trak,^[2][3] borrowed from Middle French trac (“track of horses, trace”),^[4][5] a word of uncertain origin,^[4][5] perhaps Germanic:^[2] the OED (1989) calls it generally thought to be from the source of Middle Low German and Middle Dutch trek, treck “drawing, pull”,^[5][6] and so related to trek.^[4][7] The verb is from the noun or from French traquer.^[8][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A footprint or mark left by anything: before 1470, in Malory's Morte d'Arthur, originally of a horse.^[4][5]

Semantic evolution

Its sense development parallels that of trace.^[5] A line of travel or motion is from the 1570s,^[9] and a beaten path from 1643.^[9] A course for racing is by 1827,^[5] and the line of rails for trains is from 1805;^[4][7] the wrong side of the tracks, the poorer part of a town divided by a railroad, is American English by 1901.^[5][7] Track and field is from 1905.^[4] The meaning “single recorded item” is from 1904, originally of phonograph records.^[5] Track record was a record of speed in a race from 1915, and any record of achievement from 1957.^[4] The verb, “to follow the traces of”, is from 1565,^[4][9] “to follow the course of a distant object” by telescope or radar by 1920,^[5] and “to leave a trail”, as with muddy feet, by 1838 in the United States.^[5] The track marks of drug injection are from 1964.^[9]

Timeline

• before 1470 – a footprint, mark.^[4]
• 1565 – verb, to follow the track of.^[4]
• 1643 – a beaten path.^[9]
• 1805 – railway lines.^[4]
• 1827 – a racecourse.^[5]
• 1901 – wrong side of the tracks.^[5]
• 1904 – a recorded item.^[5]
• 1905 – track and field.^[4]
• 1957 – track record, any record of achievement.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A mark or line of marks left by something that has passed; a trail.
2. A rough path or road.
3. A course of action or line of thought: on the right track.
4. A pair of rails on which a train runs.
5. A course laid out for racing; athletic events held on one.
6. A single song or piece on a record or recording.
7. A continuous band around the wheels of a tank or tractor.

Verb

1. To follow the tracks of; to pursue.
2. To follow the course or progress of, as by radar.
3. To leave a trail of dirt or mud: track mud into the house.

Word family

• trackable
• tracker
• trackless
• trackability
• tracking shot

Related words

• trek
• trace

Usage notes

A separate verb track, “to tow a boat from the bank”, from 1727, is apparently from Dutch trekken, assimilated in form to this word.^[8][9][10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press