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”

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.

Example Sentences

Reason magazine calls it the “lost remnants of a pre-vibe-shift culture, the last vestige of a fully woke world.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

They were tough sanctions, removing any vestige of royal status.

From BBC • Feb. 19, 2026

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

Discovery is burdened with billions in debt, a vestige of Discovery’s takeover of WarnerMedia from AT&T three years ago.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 30, 2025

To frighten her, I smashed a porcelain jar that, I believe, was the last vestige of the splendid days of my great-grandfather, but she was unmoved.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

Related Words

• glimmer
• relic
• remnant
• residue