relic

American  

[rel-ik] / ˈrɛl ɪk /

noun

1. a surviving memorial of something past.

2. an object having interest by reason of its age or its association with the past.

   a museum of historic relics.

3. a surviving trace of something.

   a custom that is a relic of paganism.

4. relics,

   1. remaining parts or fragments.

   2. the remains of a deceased person.

5. something kept in remembrance; souvenir; memento.

6. Ecclesiastical. (especially in the Roman Catholic and Greek churches) the body, a part of the body, or some personal memorial of a saint, martyr, or other sacred person, preserved as worthy of veneration.

7. a once widespread linguistic form that survives in a limited area but is otherwise obsolete.

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relic British  

/ ˈrɛlɪk /

noun

1. something that has survived from the past, such as an object or custom

2. something kept as a remembrance or treasured for its past associations; keepsake

3. (usually plural) a remaining part or fragment

4. RC Church Eastern Churches part of the body of a saint or something supposedly used by or associated with a saint, venerated as holy

5. informal an old or old-fashioned person or thing

6. archaic (plural) the remains of a dead person; corpse

7. ecology a less common term for relict

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Other Word Forms

• reliclike adjective

Etymology

Origin of relic

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French relique < Latin reliquiae (plural) remains (> Old English reliquias ), equivalent to reliqu ( us ) remaining + -iae plural noun suffix

Example Sentences

"This historic event marks the reunification of the Piprahwa gem relics of Lord Buddha, repatriated after 127 years," the Ministry of Culture said in a statement.

From Barron's

I should underscore here that it isn’t some old, dead virtue, a relic of the past.

From The Wall Street Journal

Once fully retired, the card that helped define modern New York commuting will become a relic — less a transit tool than a piece of civic nostalgia.

From Salon

Visitors might struggle to grasp that this place was, until recently, a largely forgotten relic of Canadian history.

From The Wall Street Journal

Fascinating as it is, it also feels like a relic from a time when doing something like that could still work.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• antique
• antiquity
• artifact
• curio
• evidence
• fragment
• keepsake
• memento
• monument
• remains
• remnant
• souvenir