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 a markedly outdated or old-fashioned person or thing.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 a person, idea, thing, etc, that is outdated or incapable of change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

/ 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

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.

Notes

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 Words From

• fossil·like adjective
• sub·fossil 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

Similar blackouts many years ago lead the state to transition away from fossil fuels like natural gas to renewable energy.

From Voice of San Diego

The amount of sea level rise depends roughly on how much fossil fuels humans burn in the coming decades causing global temperatures to spike, which eventually leads to the melting of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic and swelling of the oceans.

From Voice of San Diego

We know them from the fossils, footprints and tools they left behind.

From Science News For Students

The energy transition is not only about using green fuels instead of fossil fuels, and then it’s over.

From Freakonomics

These agreements offer an opportunity to push traditional and mostly fossil fuel-based power companies toward more renewable energy and could help slow the warming of the planet.

From Voice of San Diego

But Sanders, a representative of the Northeastern vacation state of Vermont, also opposes fossil fuel development.

From The Daily Beast

And given the current glut in fossil fuels, it might even be a better economic bet to wait a few years.

From The Daily Beast

By most measures, it is the dirtiest fossil fuel on the planet.

From The Daily Beast

They believe that companies trafficking in fossil fuels will eventually face financial problems.

From The Daily Beast

The black market trade in fossils stolen from the richest Cretaceous fossil locality in the world has prompted a crackdown.

From The Daily Beast

To those who are unaccustomed to view fossil remains the dimensions of some of these seem almost incredible.

From Project Gutenberg

The fossil record is too incomplete to reveal the time when the two tribes diverged.

From Project Gutenberg

From the discovery of immense fossil bones of mastodons and other extinct species.

From Project Gutenberg

This chapter ought not to be concluded without a short notice of that remarkable rain known to geologists as “fossil rain.”

From Project Gutenberg

The fossil record of the kangaroo rats is so scanty that one can but speculate on the evolutionary sequence.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• relic
• skeleton
• specimen
• trace