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 a markedly outdated or old-fashioned person or thing.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

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 a person, idea, thing, etc, that is outdated or incapable of change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

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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

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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.

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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

That shift brings the fossil record somewhat closer to estimates produced by molecular clock studies.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

“This particular division of private and public, housewife and breadwinner … was built on a flow of cheap fossil fuels and car culture,” she told The 19th.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

And the average sea-surface temperature just hit a record 70 degrees, according to Europe’s Earth observation agency Copernicus, as the burning of fossil fuels continues to heat the planet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

Firms across Europe have been switching to electricity from fossil fuels for their industrial needs, encouraged by subsidies from EU funds.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The dark, muggy interior was a nineties fossil, a dream frozen in amber.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

Together, these fossils help close major gaps in the early history of insects.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

The newly described fossils of C. praecursor were found in calcareous claystone concretions in the Tesnus Formation of the Marathon Uplift in western Texas.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

The fossils shed light on another major evolutionary transformation: the emergence of the modern insect body plan.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

The fossils of C. praecursor and related Paleozoic stem insects provide a new view of how the most species-rich animal group on Earth began its move onto land.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

Opaleye eggs are pale grey and may be mistaken for fossils by unwary Muggles.

From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling

Related Words

• relic
• skeleton
• specimen
• trace