remnant
[rem-nuh nt]
- a remaining, usually small part, quantity, number, or the like.
- a fragment or scrap.
- a small, unsold or unused piece of cloth, lace, etc., as at the end of a bolt.
- a trace; vestige: remnants of former greatness.
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- remaining; leftover.
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Origin of remnant
1300–50; Middle English remna(u)nt, contraction of remenant < Old French, present participle of remenoir to remain
Synonyms
See more synonyms for remnant on Thesaurus.com1. remainder, residue, residuum, rest, remains.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for remnants
Contemporary Examples
Then when we arrive at his flat in Shepherd's Bush following the escape, perhaps there ought to be remnants of the ladder.
The sets—which, really, were a feat of design and direction—appeared to be remnants of a Lewis Carroll fever dream.
On the valley floor outside the windows of the house are the remnants of FOB Michigan, turned over to the Afghan Army in 2011.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban ValleyMatt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman
November 15, 2014
However, their absence from the charts was a far cry from a trail of failed hits, remnants of creativity run dry.
Photos: Remnants of Lives Lost on MH17 Brazier was not “sick.”
Historical Examples
By morning the remnants of the British force were in desperate straits.
It was still strewn with the remnants of our meal and with empty bottles.
The Prisoner of ZendaAnthony Hope
The remnants of the Austrians had definitely retired northward.
But none of those shadows—tops of trees, remnants of walls—moved.
The FloodEmile Zola
Job, still ornamented with remnants of the fly paper, slunk at his heels.
The Woman-HatersJoseph C. Lincoln
remnant
- (often plural) a part left over after use, processing, etc
- a surviving trace or vestige, as of a former eraa remnant of imperialism
- a piece of material from the end of a roll, sold at a lower price
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- remaining; left over
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French remenant remaining, from remanoir to remain
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for remnants
remnant
n.
late 14c., contraction of remenant (c.1300), from Old French remanant "rest, remainder, surplus," noun use of present participle of remanoir "to remain" (see remain (v.)). Specific sense of "end of a piece of drapery, cloth, etc." is recorded from early 15c. An Old English word for "remnant" was endlaf.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper