vestige

[ves-tij]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vestige ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something that is no longer present or in existence: A few columns were the last vestiges of a Greek temple.

a surviving evidence or remainder of some condition, practice, etc.: These superstitions are vestiges of an ancient religion.

a very slight trace or amount of something: Not a vestige remains of the former elegance of the house.

Biology. a degenerate or imperfectly developed organ or structure that has little or no utility, but that in an earlier stage of the individual or in preceding evolutionary forms of the organism performed a useful function.

Archaic. a footprint; track.

Origin of vestige

1535–45; < Middle French < Latin vestīgium footprint

Synonyms for vestige

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vestige ON THESAURUS.COM

1. token. See trace¹. 3. hint, suggestion.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for vestige

residue, remnant, relic, glimmer, trace, hint, track, scrap, evidence, remains, token, suspicion, print, shadow, remainder, memento

Examples from the Web for vestige

Contemporary Examples of vestige

You could hardly find a vestige of the splendid railroad depots, warehouses, etc.
Atlanta’s Fall Foretold The End Of Civil War Bloodshed
Marc Wortman
September 1, 2014
The largest of an archipelago of islands, Santorini is the vestige of a single volcanic landmass that erupted around 1600 BC.
Book a Room for Two in a Santorini Cave
Joanna Eede
June 10, 2014
A deep, raspy voice seems the only vestige of the three decades he spent pounding his body with poisons.
Hallucinating Away a Heroin Addiction
Abby Haglage
May 4, 2014
She explained that “filial laws” are a vestige of English rule.
Are You Legally Responsible for Your Elderly Parents?
Keli Goff
April 26, 2014
In all three categories, almost all anti-gay laws are a vestige of European colonialism, and date back approximately 150 years.
Why Africa’s Turning Anti-Gay
Jay Michaelson
March 31, 2014

Historical Examples of vestige

Not a vestige of the chest remained but a few splintered pieces of iron.
Jennie Baxter, Journalist
Robert Barr
There was not a vestige of hope for the vessel, such was the fury of the wind and the violence of the waves.
Self-Help
Samuel Smiles
I could not recognize a single landmark, or discover the least vestige of a path.
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald
There is not a vestige nor indication of carving or decoration of any sort or kind.
Modern Painters Volume I (of V)
John Ruskin
There was now no vestige of the smile on his round white face.
The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second Series
Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for vestige

vestige

noun

a small trace, mark, or amount; hinta vestige of truth; no vestige of the meal

biology an organ or part of an organism that is a small nonfunctioning remnant of a functional organ in an ancestor

Word Origin for vestige

C17: via French from Latin vestīgium track

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 vestige

c.1600, from French vestige "a mark, trace, sign," from Latin vestigium "footprint, trace," of unknown origin.

vestige in Medicine

vestige

[vĕs′tĭj]

n.

A rudimentary or degenerate, usually nonfunctioning structure that is the remnant of an organ or part that was fully developed or functioning in a preceding generation or an earlier stage of development.