A trait is one particular quality in someone's character — one piece of what a person is like. Patience is a trait; stubbornness is a trait; a quick temper is a trait. The word is neutral in itself: a trait can be good or bad, and you show which by the words around it (an admirable trait, an annoying trait).

A traittrait is是 one particular quality in someone's character一個人性格裡某一項特定的特質——one piece of what a person is like這個人是什麼樣子的其中一小塊。Patience耐心 is a trait是一種trait；stubbornness固執 is a trait是一種trait；a quick temper急脾氣 is a trait也是一種trait。The word這個字 is neutral in itself本身是中性的：a trait can be good or bad一個trait可以是好的也可以是壞的，and而 you show which by the words around it好壞是靠它周圍的字來顯示 (an admirable trait（an admirable trait令人欽佩的特質，an annoying traitan annoying trait惱人的特質)）。

What makes trait different from a plain word like quality is that it points at something lasting and typical, not a mood. Being sad today is not a trait; being someone who worries about everything is.

What makes trait different from a plain word like qualitytrait跟quality這種普通的字不一樣的地方在於 is that它指的是 it points at something lasting and typical持久、典型的東西，not a mood不是一時的心情。Being sad today今天心情不好 is not不是 a traittrait；being someone who worries about everything凡事都會擔心的個性 is才是。

It is a slightly formal word — you meet it in psychology, in biology, in book reviews and character descriptions — and in ordinary conversation people are more likely to say "that's just how she is". Two uses are worth knowing.

It它 is是 a slightly formal word稍微正式一點的字——you meet it in你會...遇到它 psychology, in biology, in book reviews and character descriptions心理學、生物學、書評，還有人物描述裡——and而 in ordinary conversation在一般對話裡 people are more likely to say大家比較常會說 'that's just how she is'「她就是這樣的人」。Two uses有兩種用法 are worth knowing值得知道。

In science, traits are the features passed from parents to children, and not only mental ones: eye colour, height, and the shape of a leaf are all traits, so the biology sense covers the body too. And there is a fixed phrase, personality trait, which is very common and simply makes the meaning explicit.

In science在科學上，traitstraits are the features passed from parents to children指的是從父母傳給小孩的特徵，and而且 not only mental ones不只是心理上的：eye colour, height, and the shape of a leaf眼睛的顏色、身高，還有葉子的形狀 are all traits都是traits，so所以 the biology sense covers the body too生物學的意思也包含身體。And而且 there is還有 a fixed phrase一個固定詞組，personality traitpersonality trait（人格特質），which is very common這個很常見，and而 simply makes the meaning explicit就是把意思講得更明白而已。

The pronunciation is "trayt" and the final t is spoken; a few British speakers of an older generation still say "tray" in the French manner, but that now sounds unusual.

The pronunciation發音 is是 'trayt'「trayt」 and而且 the final t is spoken最後的t要唸出來；a few British speakers of an older generation一些年紀比較大的英國人 still say還是會說 'tray' in the French manner用法式唸法「tray」，but但 that now sounds unusual現在聽起來會覺得奇怪。