Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Trait

Trait , noun

[French, from Latin tractus, from trahere to draw. See Trace, v., and compare Tract a region, Trace a strap, Tret.]

1.
A stroke; a touch.
By this single trait Homer makes an essential difference between the Iliad and Odyssey. — Broome
2.
A distinguishing or marked feature; a peculiarity; as, a trait of character.

Formerly pronounced trā, as in French, and still so pronounced to some extent in England.