vestige
[ves-tij]
- 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.
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Origin of vestige
1535–45; < Middle French < Latin vestīgium footprint
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
residueremnantrelicglimmertracehinttrackscrapevidenceremainstokensuspicionprintshadowremaindermementoExamples from the Web for vestige
Contemporary Examples
You could hardly find a vestige of the splendid railroad depots, warehouses, etc.
The largest of an archipelago of islands, Santorini is the vestige of a single volcanic landmass that erupted around 1600 BC.
A deep, raspy voice seems the only vestige of the three decades he spent pounding his body with poisons.
She explained that “filial laws” are a vestige of English rule.
In all three categories, almost all anti-gay laws are a vestige of European colonialism, and date back approximately 150 years.
Historical Examples
Not a vestige of the chest remained but a few splintered pieces of iron.
Jennie Baxter, JournalistRobert 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-HelpSamuel Smiles
I could not recognize a single landmark, or discover the least vestige of a path.
Wilfrid CumbermedeGeorge 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 SeriesRafael Sabatini
vestige
- 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
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Word Origin
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
n.
c.1600, from French vestige "a mark, trace, sign," from Latin vestigium "footprint, trace," of unknown origin.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
vestige
(vĕs′tĭj)- 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.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.