vestige
Americannoun
-
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
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a surviving evidence or remainder of some condition, practice, etc..
These superstitions are vestiges of an ancient religion.
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a very slight trace or amount of something.
Not a vestige remains of the former elegance of the house.
- Synonyms:
- suggestion, hint
-
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.
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Archaic. a footprint; track.
noun
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a small trace, mark, or amount; hint
a vestige of truth
no vestige of the meal
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biology an organ or part of an organism that is a small nonfunctioning remnant of a functional organ in an ancestor
Synonym Usage
See trace 1.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of vestige
First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French, from Latin vestīgium “footprint”
Explanation
A vestige is a trace or reminder of something that has disappeared or is disappearing. A lump of snow with a carrot in it might be the vestige of a snowman. Vestige derives from the Latin vestigium, "footprint," and that is a good way to think of it — as a little hint of what was there before. It's something left behind, like a puddle after a heavy rainstorm. Sometimes vestige is used to emphasize a small amount; for example, you might say that the robber didn't show even a vestige of remorse after he was caught.
Vocabulary lists containing vestige
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The company’s New Jersey connection is a vestige of its past, when Exxon was part of the conglomerate Standard Oil back in the 19th century.
From Barron's • May 27, 2026
The middle layers of management—so central to today’s corporate structure—could be a vestige of the past.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 20, 2025
Everywhere Jay and his entourage go, a piece of cheesecake follows, the last, haunting vestige of a star’s rider that should’ve been updated long ago.
From Salon • Oct. 2, 2025
In the words of Gulf scholar Paul Rich, this was "the Indian Empire's last redoubt, just as Goa was Portuguese India's last solitary vestige, or Pondicherry was the tag-end of French India".
From BBC • Jun. 21, 2025
It was the last, ignominious vestige of faithful Barrabas.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
