different between trait vs endowment

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French trait (“line, feature”), from Latin tractus (“drawing, pulling”). Doublet of tract.

Pronunciation

• enPR: tr?t, IPA^(key): /t?e?t/
• (traditional British pronunciation, now virtually obsolete) enPR: tr?, IPA^(key): /t?e?/
• Rhymes: -e?t, -e?
• Homophones: tray, trey (one pronunciation)

Noun

trait (plural traits)

1. (biology, psychology) An identifying characteristic, habit or trend.

   Synonym: characteristic

   • 2003, Robert S. Siegler, Judy S. DeLoache, Nancy Eisenberg, How Children Develop, Macmillan (?ISBN), page 89:

     Turning to our second trait, if you have straight hair, then both of your parents must carry an allele for this trait.

2. (object-oriented programming) An uninstantiable collection of methods that provides functionality to a class by using the class’s own interface.

   Coordinate terms: mixin, interface, class

Derived terms

• character trait

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• trait at OneLook Dictionary Search
• trait on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• phenotypic trait on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• trait (computer programming) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Attri, Ratti, ittar, tiatr

French

Etymology

From Old French trait, from Latin tractus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??/

Noun

trait m (plural traits)

1. line
2. trait
3. color of a mineral
4. (dated) the action of hauling or pulling (by an animal of burden)
5. (dated) straps or cords placed on an animal of burden and attached to the vehicle which the animal pulls
6. (obsolete) an action reflecting a favorable or adverse intention by one person toward another
7. a remarkable or influential historical event
8. a particular passage in a speech that is well-written; an excellent or appealing characteristic of a speech
9. a vibrant, brilliant, or innovative idea
10. (religion) verses sung in a Mass between the gradual and the gospel reading
11. connection or link between one thing and another
12. (geology) color of the dust produced by a mineral
13. (chess, checkers) the privilege of taking the first turn/move
14. (oriented-object programming) trait

Derived terms

• avoir trait à
• cheval de trait
• forcer le trait
• grossir le trait
• tirer un trait
• trait d'esprit
• trait d'union
• trait pour trait

Related terms

• traire
• traiter
• traité

Verb

trait

1. third-person singular present indicative of traire
2. third-person singular past historic of traire
3. past participle of traire

Further reading

• “trait” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• tarit, tarît, tirât, titra, triât

English

Etymology

From Middle English endowement; equivalent to endow +? -ment.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ?n-dou?m?nt, ?n-, IPA^(key): /?n?da?m?nt/, /?n?da?m?nt/
• (US) enPR: ?n-dou?m?nt, ?n-, IPA^(key): /?n?da?m?nt/, /?n?da?m?nt/

Noun

endowment (plural endowments)

1. Something with which a person or thing is endowed.
   • 1791, Benjamin Banneker, Letter to Thomas Jefferson on racism and slavery (19 August 1791):

     I suppose it is a truth too well attested to you, to need a proof here, that we are a race of beings, who have long labored under the abuse and censure of the world; that we have long been looked upon with an eye of contempt; and that we have long been considered rather as brutish than human, and scarcely capable of mental endowments.

   • 1958, Adlai Stevenson, Speech to the United Parents Association:

     We must not, in opening our schools to everyone, confuse the idea that all should have equal chance with the notion that all have equal endowments.

   • 1985, Jonas Salk, Interview on The Open Mind (11 May 1985):

     What is … important is that we — number one: Learn to live with each other. Number two: try to bring out the best in each other. The best from the best, and the best from those who, perhaps, might not have the same endowment.
2. Property or funds invested for the support and benefit of a person or not-for-profit institution.
   • 1884, Edwin Abbott Abbott, in chapter 8 of his novella Flatland:

     Not content with the natural neglect into which Sight Recognition was falling, they began boldly to demand the legal prohibition of all "monopolizing and aristocratic Arts" and the consequent abolition of all endowments for the studies of Sight Recognition, Mathematics, and Feeling.

   • 1932, Robert Clarkson Clothier, after assuming the presidency of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

     I seem to see a great university, great in endowment, in land, in buildings, in equipment, but greater still, second to none, in its practical idealism, and its social usefulness.
3. (insurance) Endowment assurance or pure endowment.
4. (Mormonism) A ceremony designed to prepare participants for their role in the afterlife.

Synonyms

• (something with which a person or thing is endowed): gift

Derived terms

• endowment mortgage

Related terms

• endow

Translations

Middle English

Noun

endowment

1. Alternative form of endowement