relic

[rel-ik]

noun

1. a surviving memorial of something past.

2. an object having interest by reason of its age or its association with the past.

   a museum of historic relics.

3. a surviving trace of something.

   a custom that is a relic of paganism.

4. relics,

   1. remaining parts or fragments.

   2. the remains of a deceased person.

5. something kept in remembrance; souvenir; memento.

6. Ecclesiastical.,  (especially in the Roman Catholic and Greek churches) the body, a part of the body, or some personal memorial of a saint, martyr, or other sacred person, preserved as worthy of veneration.

7. a once widespread linguistic form that survives in a limited area but is otherwise obsolete.

relic

/ ˈrɛlɪk /

noun

1. something that has survived from the past, such as an object or custom

2. something kept as a remembrance or treasured for its past associations; keepsake

3. (usually plural) a remaining part or fragment

4. RC Church Eastern Churches part of the body of a saint or something supposedly used by or associated with a saint, venerated as holy

5. informal,  an old or old-fashioned person or thing

6. archaic,  (plural) the remains of a dead person; corpse

7. ecology a less common term for relict

Other Word Forms

• reliclike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of relic¹

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French relique < Latin reliquiae (plural) remains (> Old English reliquias ), equivalent to reliqu ( us ) remaining + -iae plural noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of relic¹

C13: from Old French relique , from Latin reliquiae remains, from relinquere to leave behind, _relinquish

Example Sentences

He soon came to believe that the desk on which he had written the Declaration would become a sacred relic.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But four years into his tenure as the Trojans’ coach, Riley’s once-sterling road reputation feels like a relic of a past life.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It’s a relic dating back to when Dad was in high school, way back in the 1900s.

Read more on Literature

On the ocean floor, relics of civilizations that have long since disappeared lie, awaiting discovery.

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RNA, it turns out, survives from the earliest chapter of life—a molecular relic that once handled every task itself but now serves as the essential link translating DNA into action.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• antique 
• antiquity 
• artifact 
• curio 
• evidence 
• fragment 
• keepsake 
• memento 
• monument 
• remains 
• remnant 
• souvenir