trait
/tray, trayt/ • noun 1 a distinguishing quality or characteristic. 2 a genetically determined characteristic. — USAGE Trait has two pronunciations. The first, sounding like tray, is the traditional one (corresponding to its sound in French), but the newer one, rhyming with rate, is becoming the commoner one and is generally used in the US. — ORIGIN French, from Latin tractus ‘drawing, draught’.
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