vestige

American  

[ves-tij] / ˈvɛs tɪdʒ /

noun

1. 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.

   Synonyms:

   token

2. a surviving evidence or remainder of some condition, practice, etc..

   These superstitions are vestiges of an ancient religion.

3. a very slight trace or amount of something.

   Not a vestige remains of the former elegance of the house.

   Synonyms:

   suggestion, hint

4. 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.

5. Archaic. a footprint; track.

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vestige British  

/ ˈvɛstɪdʒ /

noun

1. a small trace, mark, or amount; hint

   a vestige of truth

   no vestige of the meal

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

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Related Words

See trace ¹.

Etymology

Origin of vestige

First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French, from Latin vestīgium “footprint”

Example Sentences

The middle layers of management—so central to today’s corporate structure—could be a vestige of the past.

From The Wall Street Journal

There were wild blackberries and raspberries blanketing the hillsides, and vestiges of old fruit orchards.

From The Wall Street Journal

It is also unclear what Netflix would want with Warner’s shrinking cable TV channels and other vestiges of legacy media.

From The Wall Street Journal

Prince Andrew's removal from the last vestiges of royal life has not only reshaped his future - it's sending ripples through his family too.

From BBC

Particularly as this dramatic move, removing the remaining vestiges of his royal life, comes with an assertion of his innocence and that he continued to "vigorously deny the accusations against me".

From BBC

Related Words

• glimmer
• relic
• remnant
• residue