fossil

[fos-uhl]

noun

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 a markedly outdated or old-fashioned person or thing.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

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 a person, idea, thing, etc, that is outdated or incapable of change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

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

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.

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

• fossillike adjective
• subfossil noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of fossil¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of fossil¹

C17: from Latin fossilis dug up, from fodere to dig

Example Sentences

These ancient resins sometimes contain "bio-inclusions" -- trapped remains of plants or animals -- that offer rare, detailed glimpses of life forms such as insects and flowers that are not usually preserved as fossils.

Read more on Science Daily

At INA, scientists connect living coccolithophores to their fossil record, using their microscopic plates to date rocks and trace Earth's climate history.

Read more on Science Daily

With power demand surging and fossil fuels back in fashion, it is a good time to be making turbines for gas-fired power plants.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The Paris accord calls for developed countries to lead the way in reducing emissions, and requires them to help finance the transition of developing countries away from fossil fuels.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

First discovered by a prolific fossil hunter at Golden Cap in Dorset in 2001 the new ichthyosaur was then acquired by a museum in Canada.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• relic 
• skeleton 
• specimen 
• trace