trait

trait /treɪ, treɪt $ treɪt/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[Date: 1500-1600; Language: French; Origin: 'act of pulling, trait', from Latin tractus; ⇨ ↑tract]
formal a particular quality in someone’s character
personality/character traits
a mental illness associated with particular personality traits
genetic/inherited traits

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

trait

trait [trait traits] [treɪt] [treɪt] noun
a particular quality in your personality
• personality traits
• Awareness of class is a typically British trait.
Word Origin:
mid 16th cent.: from French, from Latin tractus ‘drawing, draught’, from trahere ‘draw, pull’. An early sense was ‘stroke of the pen or pencil in a picture’, giving rise to the sense ‘a particular feature of mind or character’ (mid 18th cent.).
Example Bank:
• She shares several character traits with her father.
• We do not know which behavioural traits are inherited and which acquired.
• a collection of traits associated with schizophrenia
• the composer's stylistic traits

• personality/character traits

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary

Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary - 4th Edition

trait / treɪt / noun [ C ]

C2 a particular characteristic that can produce a particular type of behaviour:

His sense of humour is one of his better traits.

Arrogance is a very unattractive personality/character trait.

Collins Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary

trait

[tre͟ɪt, tre͟ɪ]
traits
N-COUNT: with supp
A trait is a particular characteristic, quality, or tendency that someone or something has.
The study found that some alcoholics had clear personality traits showing up early in childhood...
Creativity is a human trait.

Merriam-Webster's Advanced Learner's Dictionary

trait

trait /ˈtreɪt, Brit ˈtreɪ/ noun, pl traits [count] formal : a quality that makes one person or thing different from another
• Humility is an admirable trait. [=quality]
• This dog breed has a number of desirable traits.
• feminine/masculine traits
• inherited and acquired traits