Etymologically
Log in

track

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:32. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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
  • 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