Trait

A trait is a relatively stable pattern of thinking, feeling, and behaving that differs from person to person and persists across time and situations.

The key word is relatively. Traits aren't fixed like eye color, and they aren't as fleeting as a mood. If you're generally more talkative than most people, you'll likely still be more talkative than most people next year, and in most rooms you walk into. That consistency across time and context is what separates a trait from a passing state, like feeling anxious before a specific presentation.

Traits are also dimensional, not categorical. Most personality traits, including those in the Big Five, describe a continuum, with most people falling somewhere in the middle rather than at either extreme.

Traits don't determine behavior in every single instance. A highly extraverted person can still have a quiet night in. What traits describe is the average tendency across many situations and over time. That's why personality assessments ask about general patterns rather than one-off events, and why a single data point tells you far less than a pattern of them.