relict

(ri likt; for n. relikt)

adjective

surviving the death of another; esp., widowed

Origin: L relictus, pp. of relinquere: see relinquish

noun

  1. Origin: LL relicta < L relictus

    Archaic a widow
  2. Origin: < the adj.

    1. Ecol. a plant or animal species living on in isolation in a small local area as a survival from an earlier period or as a remnant of an almost extinct group
    2. Geol. a physical feature, mineral, structure, etc. remaining after other components have wasted away or been altered

See relict in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. Ecology An organism or species of an earlier time surviving in an environment that has undergone considerable change.
  2. Something that has survived; a remnant.
  3. A widow.
adjective
Geology
Of or relating to something that has survived, as structures or minerals after destructive processes.

Origin:

Origin: From Middle English relicte, left undisturbed

Origin: , from Latin relictus

Origin: , past participle of relinquere, to leave behind; see relinquish

Origin: . Sense 3, Middle English relicte

Origin: , from Medieval Latin relicta

Origin: , from feminine past participle of Latin relinquere

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