Trait
mid 16th century: from French, from Latin tractus ‘drawing, draught’ (see tract1). 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 century).
wiktionary
Borrowed from Middle French trait(“line, feature”), from Latin tractus(“drawing, pulling”), from Latin trahō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tregʰ-(“to drag, pull?”), perhaps a variation of *dʰregʰ-(“to pull, draw, drag”). Doublet of tract.
etymonline
trait (n.)
late 15c., "shot, missiles;" later "a stroke in drawing, a short line" (1580s), from French trait "line, stroke, feature, tract," from Latin tractus "drawing, drawing out, dragging, pulling," later "line drawn, feature," from past participle stem of trahere "to pull, draw" (see tract (n.1)). Sense of "particular feature, distinguishing quality" in English is first recorded 1752.
