Tracé

Tracé is a French noun meaning the line, path, or outline of a feature, as well as the act of drawing such a line. The term is widely used across disciplines to denote the visible route or shape of something, as well as the plan or drawing that defines it.

In civil engineering and urban planning, the tracé refers to the alignment of an infrastructure project, such as a road, railway, pipeline, or river works. It encompasses the horizontal route and the vertical profile, including curves, gradients, intersections, and land use along the path. The tracé is developed through technical studies and is refined during design, environmental assessment, and public consultation processes. The final tracé guides construction and subsequent land management.

In cartography and geographic information systems, tracé denotes the geometry of a feature represented as a polyline. This geometric representation, based on coordinates, is used for map rendering, spatial analysis, and data integration.

In mathematics and data visualization, the tracé of a function or data set is its plotted graph—the visual representation of a relationship or trend. The verb tracer is common in this sense, with phrases like tracé d’une courbe or tracé d’un graphique.

Beyond technical usage, tracé can also mean an outline or contour in drawing and design, or the trace left behind by a moving object. The term emphasizes both the drawn line and the underlying route or shape it conveys.