relic

[ rel-ik ]

/ ˈrɛl ɪk /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR relic ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a surviving memorial of something past.

an object having interest by reason of its age or its association with the past: a museum of historic relics.

a surviving trace of something: a custom that is a relic of paganism.

relics,

remaining parts or fragments.
the remains of a deceased person.

something kept in remembrance; souvenir; memento.

Ecclesiastical. (especially in the Roman Catholic and Greek churches) the body, a part of the body, or some personal memorial of a saint, martyr, or other sacred person, preserved as worthy of veneration.

a once widespread linguistic form that survives in a limited area but is otherwise obsolete.

Origin of relic

1175–1225; Middle English < Old French relique < Latin reliquiae (plural) remains (> Old English reliquias), equivalent to reliqu(us) remaining + -iae plural noun suffix

OTHER WORDS FROM relic

rel·ic·like, adjective

Words nearby relic

relexify, reliability, reliable, reliance, reliant, relic, relic area, relict, relief, relief map, relief pitcher

Example sentences from the Web for relic

Blues music is often treated like a museum piece, a relic from a bygone day, but this band will make you want to get up and dance.

The Best Albums of 2014 |Ted Gioia |December 13, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Enjoy Messi while you can—he might play on for a few years yet but everything he represents is already a relic.

Enjoy Argentina’s Lionel Messi While You Can |Peter Pomerantsev |July 13, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Marrero himself was hardly a “cup of coffee” relic or a minor character belatedly retrieved from the dustbin of baseball history.

Havana Bids Adios to Conrado Marrero, MLB’s Oldest Player |Peter C. Bjarkman |April 25, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Even the Aughties Beck—The Information, parts of Guero, parts of Modern Guilt—seems like a relic at this point.

Beck’s Musical Time Machine: This Wasn’t a Concert. It was a Spectacular Party. |Andrew Romano |April 18, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

The church was closed due to bad weather when the relic, along with a golden cross, was taken.

Who Stole John Paul’s Blood And Christ’s Foreskin? |Barbie Latza Nadeau |January 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
They took with them a relic, supposed to be the body of St. Clement of Rome, a martyr.

Curiosities of Christian History |Croake James
Firstly, he picked up the charred fragment of the letter, and smoothed it out carefully and reverently as he would a relic.

El Dorado |Baroness Orczy
I found it in this cell, after the death of the martyr, and have preserved it as a relic.

The Black Tulip |Alexandre Dumas (Pere)
"You may keep the carrion," said the French general flippantly, as he handed the relic to the Grand Master, minus the ring.

The Story of Malta |Maturin M. Ballou
He thinks no end of it; it's a Revolutionary relic or Waterloo or something.

Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895 |Various

British Dictionary definitions for relic

relic

/ (ˈrɛlɪk) /

noun

something that has survived from the past, such as an object or custom

something kept as a remembrance or treasured for its past associations; keepsake

(usually plural) a remaining part or fragment

RC Church Eastern Churches part of the body of a saint or something supposedly used by or associated with a saint, venerated as holy

informal an old or old-fashioned person or thing

(plural) archaic the remains of a dead person; corpse

ecology a less common term for relict (def. 1)

Word Origin for relic

C13: from Old French relique, from Latin reliquiae remains, from relinquere to leave behind, relinquish

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

relic

noun

Origin of relic

OTHER WORDS FROM relic

Words nearby relic

Example sentences from the Web for relic

British Dictionary definitions for relic

noun

Word Origin for relic

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

relic

noun

Origin of relic

OTHER WORDS FROM relic

Words nearby relic

Words related to relic

Example sentences from the Web for relic

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noun

Word Origin for relic

British Dictionary definitions for relic