fossil

American  

[fos-uhl] / ˈfɒs əl /

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 a markedly outdated or old-fashioned person or thing.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

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 a person, idea, thing, etc, that is outdated or incapable of change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

• fossillike
  adjective
• subfossil
  noun

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

Fossil fuels are expensive right now, but so is destroying demand for them.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

Fossil fuel roadmaps differ to national pledges to reduce emissions or "net zero" plans because they have an explicit end goal, said Leo Roberts, an energy analyst at the E3G think tank.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

He also backed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, helping elevate a movement that until then had been largely driven by vulnerable island states.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2026

Fossil fuels are cheap in part because their price does not reflect the damage they cause - from rising temperatures to impacts on health, property and the natural world.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

By the time we saw the Wolf Wall in the Fossil Lab and its four hundred wolf skulls, I was growing weary.

From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English

Related Words

• relic
• skeleton
• specimen
• trace