vestigial

[ve-stij-ee-uh l, -stij-uh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vestigial ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of, relating to, or of the nature of a vestige: a vestigial tail.

Origin of vestigial

1880–85; < Latin vestīgi(um) vestige + -al¹

Related formsves·tig·i·al·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for vestigial

veiled, underlying, lurking, inherent, unrealized, smoldering, suppressed, simple, naive, rudimentary, underdeveloped, unsophisticated, undeveloped, elementary, primitive, embryonic, elemental, leftover, outstanding, surviving

Examples from the Web for vestigial

Contemporary Examples of vestigial

Ensembles are of vestigial interest in this new pop culture.
Van Dyke Parks on How Songwriters Are Getting Screwed in the Digital Age
Van Dyke Parks
June 4, 2014
Such myths, Manchester argues, may be vestigial in the modern era, but they remain vital to the cohesion of a culture.
Three Great Men Died That Day: JFK, C.S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley
John Garth
November 3, 2013
Because a foodie is a mouth with a vestigial person attached, one might think so.
The Secret Sex Lives of Chefs
Gael Greene
June 24, 2009

Historical Examples of vestigial

The first digit is vestigial and the second, third, and fourth are clawed.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds
In Cycloturus however the hallux is vestigial and it is absent in Glyptodonts.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds
There are indications of a vestigial second pair of incisors.
The Vertebrate Skeleton
Sidney H. Reynolds
Or, on the other hand, may not such faculty be regarded not as vestigial, but as rudimentary?
Occultism and Common-Sense
Beckles Willson
Thus the view that the behaviour is vestigial is not perhaps unreasonable.
Territory in Bird Life
H. Eliot Howard

British Dictionary definitions for vestigial

vestigial

adjective

of, relating to, or being a vestige

(of certain organs or parts of organisms) having attained a simple structure and reduced size and function during the evolution of the speciesthe vestigial pelvic girdle of a snake

Derived Formsvestigially, adverb

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 vestigial

adj.

1877, from vestige + -al (1).

vestigial in Medicine

vestigial

[vĕ-stĭj′ē-əl, -stĭj′əl]

adj.

Occurring or persisting as a rudimentary or degenerate structure.

vestigial in Science

vestigial

[vĕ-stĭj′ē-əl]

Relating to a body part that has become small and lost its use because of evolutionary change. Whales, for example, have small bones located in the muscles of their body walls that are vestigial bones of hips and hind limbs.