Untraced

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having left no sign, trail or evidence behind ; never found, recorded or identified by anyone at all
2. Lacking any trace that would reveal where it went or what it was ; absent from records and impossible to locate
3. Not yet tracked down, followed or recorded in any way ; remaining hidden, unknown and without any discernible evidence

Etymology: "Untraced" is about as plain as English compounds get: the prefix "un-" (meaning "not") attached to "traced," the past participle of "trace." Its meaning follows directly from the parts, describing something whose path, source, or identity has not been followed or found. The base "trace" comes from Old French "tracer," meaning to follow a track or mark out lines, which in turn traces back to Latin "tractus," a drawing or dragging. So the idea at the core is literally the mark left behind by something drawn along a path, and "untraced" is simply the negative of having been followed back along that mark.

Synonyms: undetected, unfound, untracked, unidentified

Antonyms: traced, located