fossil

American  

[fos-uhl] / ˈfɒs əl /

noun

fossils plural

1. any remains, impression, or trace of a living thing of a former geologic age, as a skeleton, footprint, etc.

2. a markedly outdated or old-fashioned person or thing.

3. a linguistic form that is archaic except in certain restricted contexts, as nonce in for the nonce, or that follows a rule or pattern that is no longer productive, as the sentence So be it.

---

adjective

1. of the nature of a fossil.

   fossil insects.

2. belonging to a past epoch or discarded system; antiquated.

   a fossil approach to economics.

fossil British  

/ ˈfɒsəl /

noun

1. 1. a relic, remnant, or representation of an organism that existed in a past geological age, or of the activity of such an organism, occurring in the form of mineralized bones, shells, etc, as casts, impressions, and moulds, and as frozen perfectly preserved organisms

   2. ( as modifier )

      fossil insects

2. informal

   1. a person, idea, thing, etc, that is outdated or incapable of change

   2. ( as modifier )

      fossil politicians

3. linguistics a form once current but now appearing only in one or two special contexts, as for example stead , which is found now only in instead ( of ) and in phrases like in his stead

4. obsolete any rock or mineral dug out of the earth

---

fossil Scientific  

/ fŏs′əl /

1. The remains or imprint of an organism from a previous geologic time. A fossil can consist of the preserved tissues of an organism, as when encased in amber, ice, or pitch, or more commonly of the hardened relic of such tissues, as when organic matter is replaced by dissolved minerals. Hardened fossils are often found in layers of sedimentary rock and along the beds of rivers that flow through them.

2. See also index fossil microfossil trace fossil

---

fossil Cultural  

1. The evidence in rock of the presence of a plant or an animal from an earlier geological period. Fossils are formed when minerals in groundwater replace materials in bones and tissue, creating a replica in stone of the original organism or of their tracks. The study of fossils is the domain of paleontology. The oldest fossils (of bacteria) are 3.8 billion years old.

---

Discover More

The term is used figuratively to refer to a person with very old-fashioned or outmoded viewpoints: “That old fossil thinks that men should wear suits at the theater!”

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subfossil
  noun
• fossillike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fossils
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fossil

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin fossilis “dug up,” from foss(us) “dug” (past participle of fodere “to dig”) + -ilis -ile ( def. ); replacing earlier fossile, from French

Explanation

Fossils are the really, really old remains of a plant or animal — so old they've turned to stone. Fossil is also an insult for an old or old-fashioned person. Fossils are very important to scientists who study animals: they're one of the ways we learn about the beasts and critters of the past. A fossil is an imprint of the bones of that animal in rock or stone. If you see a reconstruction of a dinosaur in a museum, scientists used fossils to figure out how it should look. Also, calling someone a fossil is like calling them a geezer or old fogey. It's not a compliment.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fossil fossils

Natural gas has long been billed as a "bridge fuel" between dirtier polluting fossil fuels and renewables such as wind and solar.

From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026

"We used a simple and very low-cost technique that quantifies the 'darkness' of fossil pollen and spores, a so-called Palynomorph Darkness Index."

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

From building wind turbines to reinforcing power grids for rising demand from electric cars, transitioning from fossil fuels to greener economies will require a massive increase in metal extraction.

From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026

A refocusing on fossil fuels has coincided with a stricter capital allocation policy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

“And it’s all because of climate change. Burning fossil fuels puts carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which traps the earth’s heat.”

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

The new findings raise the possibility that some of those fossils may actually represent numerous species that have yet to be recognized.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

"Ajimu contains the only site in the world where fossils of the giant salamander family and extant genera have both been found," says first author Masahiro Noda.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

At first, researchers placed the Ajimu fossils in the genus Andrias, which contains the largest amphibians alive today.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026

A camera connected to a light microscope records the fossils, and the color information is converted into an average gray scale value.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

At every change in rock strata certain species of fossils disappeared while others carried on into subsequent levels.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• relic
• skeleton
• specimen
• trace