vestige

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Noun 1.2.1 Derived terms 1.2.2 Translations 1.2.3 See also 1.2.4 External links

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

< French < Latin vestigium (“‘footstep, footprint, track, the sole of the foot, a trace, mark’”).

[edit] Noun

vestige (plural vestiges)

1. The mark of the foot left on the earth; a track or footstep; a trace; a sign;
2. A faint mark or visible sign left by something which is lost, or has perished, or is no longer present; remains.

   the vestiges of ancient magnificence in Palmyra

   vestiges of former population

   • 1788, James Hutton, Theory of the earth, page 166:

     The result, therefore, of this physical inquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,— no prospect of an end.

   • 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine, Chapter VIII:

     Only ragged vestiges of glass remained in its windows, and great sheets of the green facing had fallen away from the corroded metallic framework.

   • 1911, “Angkor”, in 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica:

     The chief remains of the Roman Calagurris are the vestiges of an aqueduct and an amphitheatre.

   • 1871, Charles Darwin, Descent of Man, Chapter I:

     Nevertheless in some cases, my original view, that the points are vestiges of the tips of formerly erect and pointed ears, still seems to me probable.

[edit] Derived terms

• vestigial

[edit] Translations

[edit] See also

• hint
• trace

[edit] External links

• vestige in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• vestige in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911