vestige

[ves-tij]

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.

vestige

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of vestige¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of vestige¹

C17: via French from Latin vestīgium track

Synonym Study

See trace ¹.

Example Sentences

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.

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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".

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She has clearly shown courage and resolve in resisting President Nicolás Maduro’s increasingly corrupt and despotic regime, which has finally lost its last vestiges of international left-wing legitimacy.

Read more on Salon

Casualties are extensive, and may include the last vestiges of this nation’s dignity and self-respect.

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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.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• glimmer 
• relic 
• remnant 
• residue