What does trait in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word trait in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use trait in French.

The word trait in French means line, trait, features, facial features, hint, spot, dash, drop, bolt, quarrel, gulp, mouthful, witticism, witty remark, harness, word, term, the move, milk, have to do with, draft horse, in one go, line drawing, exaggerate, caricature, overstate the point, make a production out of it, scrap, centre line, witticism, flash of wit, a little humour, a bit of humour, hyphen, go-between, personality trait, character trait, stroke of genius, personality trait, character trait, distinguishing feature, dominant feature, distinctive feature, exactly. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word trait

line

nom masculin (élément de dessin) (drawing)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Prends une règle si tu veux tirer des traits droits. Je crois qu'en morse, « D » s'écrit trait point point.
I think "D" is written dash, dot, dot in Morse code.

trait

nom masculin (caractéristique) (character)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
C'est un trait caractéristique de sa personnalité.
It's a characteristic trait of his personality.

features, facial features

nom masculin pluriel (caractéristiques du visage)

(plural noun: Noun always used in plural form--for example, "jeans," "scissors.")
Ce vieil homme a les traits burinés par le soleil.
This old man has craggy features because of the sun.

hint, spot, dash, drop

nom masculin (Cuisine : petite quantité) (small quantity)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ajouter un trait d'angostura.
Add a drop of Angostura.

bolt, quarrel

nom masculin (projectile d'arbalète) (crossbow)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
L'arbalétrier place un trait sur son arme, puis tire.
The arbalist places a bolt in his crossbow, then shoots.

gulp, mouthful

nom masculin (littéraire (gorgée) (drink)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Elle but à grands traits.
She drank in great gulps.

witticism, witty remark

nom masculin (soutenu (mot d'esprit)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Julien a exprimé quelques traits bien sentis contre ce responsable.
Julian made some well-chosen witty remarks about the supervisor.

harness

nom masculin (littéraire (corde pour atteler un animal)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Sans trait, impossible de labourer ce champ !
It is impossible to plough this field without a harness!

word, term

nom masculin (littéraire (propos) (expression)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Tu nous parlas de cette personne en des traits élogieux.
They spoke to us about him in glowing terms.

the move

nom masculin (Échecs : tour de jouer) (chess)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Avoir le trait est souvent un avantage.

milk

verbe transitif (extraire le lait d'un pis)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
L'éleveur trait ses vaches très tôt tous les matins.
The livestock farmer milks his cows very early each morning.

have to do with

locution verbale (être lié à)

draft horse

nom masculin (cheval pour travaux des champs)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Certains viticulteurs se servent encore de chevaux de trait.

in one go

locution adverbiale (d'un seul coup)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Ce livre était tellement bien que je l'ai lu d'un trait.

line drawing

nom masculin (représentation faite de lignes)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Cet artiste fait des dessins au trait des visages.

exaggerate, caricature

locution verbale (exagérer les choses)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")

overstate the point, make a production out of it

locution verbale (exagérer)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

scrap

locution verbale (figuré (oublier, abandonner une idée)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
J'ai tiré un trait sur mes vacances à Hawaï.
I've scrapped my holiday in Hawaii.

centre line

nom masculin (indicateur de symétrie) (UK)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

witticism, flash of wit

nom masculin (humour, pique)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

a little humour, a bit of humour

nom masculin (remarque humoristique) (UK)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

hyphen

nom masculin (tiret court) (punctuation)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Après-midi s'écrit avec un trait d’union.

go-between

nom masculin (figuré (intermédiaire, conciliateur) (person)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Marc servit de trait d'union entre sa société et la nôtre.

personality trait, character trait

nom masculin (caractéristique psychologique)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Ce trait de caractère vient de ton père.

stroke of genius

nom masculin (idée lumineuse)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

personality trait, character trait

nom masculin (caractéristique psychologique)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

distinguishing feature

nom masculin (caractéristique)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

dominant feature, distinctive feature

nom masculin (caractère principal)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

exactly

locution adverbiale (identiquement, exactement)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
He is the spitting image of his father = c'est son père, trait pour trait.

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So now that you know more about the meaning of trait in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

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French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.