vestigial
[ve-stij-ee-uh l, -stij-uh l]
- of, relating to, or of the nature of a vestige: a vestigial tail.
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Origin of vestigial
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for vestigial
veiled, underlying, lurking, inherent, unrealized, smoldering, suppressed, simple, naive, rudimentary, underdeveloped, unsophisticated, undeveloped, elementary, primitive, embryonic, elemental, leftover, outstanding, survivingExamples from the Web for vestigial
Contemporary Examples of vestigial
Ensembles are of vestigial interest in this new pop culture.
Such myths, Manchester argues, may be vestigial in the modern era, but they remain vital to the cohesion of a culture.
Because a foodie is a mouth with a vestigial person attached, one might think so.
Historical Examples of vestigial
In Cycloturus however the hallux is vestigial and it is absent in Glyptodonts.
The Vertebrate SkeletonSidney H. Reynolds
The first digit is vestigial and the second, third, and fourth are clawed.
The Vertebrate SkeletonSidney H. Reynolds
There are indications of a vestigial second pair of incisors.
The Vertebrate SkeletonSidney H. Reynolds
Or, on the other hand, may not such faculty be regarded not as vestigial, but as rudimentary?
Occultism and Common-SenseBeckles Willson
Thus the view that the behaviour is vestigial is not perhaps unreasonable.
Territory in Bird LifeH. Eliot Howard
vestigial
- 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
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for vestigial
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
vestigial
(vĕ-stĭj′ē-əl, -stĭj′əl)- Occurring or persisting as a rudimentary or degenerate structure.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.