tracés

Tracé (plural tracés) is a French noun meaning the drawn line, route, outline, or path of something, as well as the act of drawing it. In English-language technical writing, tracé is usually rendered as trace, tracing, or path, and tracés is used primarily in French editions. The term is widely used across disciplines to denote how a line or boundary is defined on a map, diagram, or plan.

In cartography and urban planning, the tracé refers to the planned alignment of a road, railway, river, or utility corridor. It represents the geometry of a future or proposed route, typically shown as a polyline or polygon on maps and project documents. The tracé is a central element in design, assessment, and permitting processes, and it may be revised during studies of feasibility, environmental impact, and community feedback.

In mathematics and drawing, tracé can denote the path traced by a moving point, or the locus of points forming a curve. It also designates a preliminary sketch or drawing used to illustrate a concept or serve as a basis for more detailed work. In this sense, a tracé is a representation of shape, trajectory, or relation, not the final or finished product alone.

In technology and architecture, tracé appears in plans and routing discussions. On printed circuit boards, the equivalent English term trace describes the copper paths that connect components; French documentation may refer to their tracé as the routing of connections.

Overall, tracés convey the idea of defined lines or routes that guide interpretation, construction, or analysis across different domains.