Relict Definition
rĕlĭkt, rĭ-lĭkt
relicts
noun
A species that inhabits a much smaller geographic area than it did in the past, often because of environmental change.
American Heritage Medicine
Something that has survived; a remnant.
American Heritage Medicine
A widow.
Webster's New World
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.
Webster's New World
A physical feature, mineral, structure, etc. remaining after other components have wasted away or been altered.
Webster's New World
adjective
Of or relating to something that has survived, as structures or minerals after destructive processes.
American Heritage
Surviving the death of another; esp., widowed.
Webster's New World
That is a relict; pertaining to a relict.
Wiktionary
Other Word Forms of Relict
Noun
Singular:
relict
Plural:
relictsOrigin of Relict
-
From Middle English relicte left undisturbed from Latin relictus past participle of relinquere to leave behind relinquish Sense 3, Middle English relicte from Medieval Latin relicta from feminine past participle of Latin relinquere
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
-
From Latin relictus, past participle of relinquō (“I leave behind, abandon, relinquish"), from re- + linquō (“I leave, quit, forsake, depart from").
From Wiktionary
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