Definition

Noun: - Trace, sign, or vestige: Refers to any piece of information, clue, or remaining mark that indicates the existence or former presence of someone or something. It implies a very faint or minimal indication. - News or whereabouts: Often used in negative contexts to denote a complete lack of information about someone's location or status.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Sau trận bão, ngôi làng biến mất không một tăm tích. (After the storm, the village vanished without a trace.)
  • Anh ta bỏ đi biệt tăm tích từ năm ngoái. (He left and disappeared without a trace last year.)
  • Cảnh sát tìm kiếm nhưng không thấy tăm tích của kẻ trộm. (The police searched but found no trace of the thief.)

Advanced Usage

• The word is almost exclusively used in set phrases, most commonly "biệt tăm tích" (to disappear without a trace) and "không một tăm tích" (not a single trace).
• It carries a connotation of something being utterly lost, untraceable, or having vanished completely.

Variants and Related Words

• Dấu vết (n): A more general term for "trace," "mark," or "evidence," which can be physical or figurative. often implies a fainter, more elusive trace.
• Tin tức (n): News, information. can sometimes imply a lack of this ("no news").

Synonyms

• Trace: A faint indication or sign left behind.
• Vestige: A small remaining part of what once existed.
• Sign: An object, quality, or event indicating something.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Biệt tăm tích: To vanish/disappear without a trace.
  • Công ty đó đã đóng cửa và biệt tăm tích. (That company shut down and vanished without a trace.)
• Không một tăm tích: Not a single trace.
  • Chiếc máy bay rơi, tìm kiếm nhiều ngày vẫn không một tăm tích. (The plane crashed, and many days of search have yielded not a single trace.)

noun

1. trace