Spoor (animal)

Spoor is a trace or a set of footprints by which the progress of someone or something may be followed. Spoor may include tracks, scents, or broken foliage. Spoor is useful for discovering or surveying what types of animals live in an area, or in animal tracking.

The word was borrowed into English c. 1823, from Afrikaans spoor, from Middle Dutch spor, which is cognate with Old English spor, 'footprint, track, trace', and modern English spurn (as in 'ankle').[1][2] It is cognate also with spur, the metal tool on the heels of riding boots.

By analogy, in politics, "to look carefully on the spoor in the trails" means to investigate what is actually going on in a sensitive situation.[3]

See also

  • Fewmets – Solid or semisolid remains of undigested food
  • Footprint – Impressions or images left behind by a person walking or running
  • Trace (deconstruction) – Concept in Derridian deconstruction
  • Trace fossil, also known as ichnofossil – Geological record of biological activity

References

  1. ^ "spoor". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  2. ^ "spoor". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. September 2025. doi:10.1093/OED/6612217865. Retrieved January 18, 2026. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  3. ^ Chartock, Alan S. (April 15, 2013). "The only way out of this mess is term limits". Legislative Gazette. No. April 16, 2013. Albany, NY. p. 4. Retrieved April 23, 2013.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  • Media related to Spoor at Wikimedia Commons
  • The dictionary definition of spoor at Wiktionary
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