rel·ic

(rĕl′ĭk)

1. Something that has survived the passage of time, especially an object or custom whose original culture has disappeared: "Corporal punishment was a relic of barbarism" (Cyril Connolly).

2. Something cherished for its age or historic interest.

3. An object kept for its association with the past; a memento.

4. An object of religious veneration, especially a piece of the body or a personal item of a saint.

5. or relics A corpse; remains.

[Middle English relik, object of religious veneration, from Old French relique, from Late Latin reliquiae, sacred relics, from Latin, remains, from reliquus, remaining, from relinquere, relīqu-, to leave behind; see relinquish.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

relic

(ˈrɛlɪk)

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

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

3. (usually plural) a remaining part or fragment

4. (Eastern Church (Greek & Russian Orthodox)) RC Church Eastern Churches part of the body of a saint or something supposedly used by or associated with a saint, venerated as holy

5. (Roman Catholic Church) RC Church Eastern Churches part of the body of a saint or something supposedly used by or associated with a saint, venerated as holy

6. informal an old or old-fashioned person or thing

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

8. (Biology) ecology a less common term for relict¹

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

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rel•ic

(ˈrɛl ɪk)

n.

1. a surviving memorial of something past.

2. an object having interest by reason of its age or its association with the past.

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

4. relics,

a. remaining parts or fragments.

b. the remains of a deceased person.

5. something kept in remembrance; souvenir; memento.

6. a body, body part, or personal object associated with a saint or martyr and preserved as worthy of veneration.

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

[1175–1225; Middle English < Old French relique < Latin reliquiae (pl.) remains (> Old English reliquias) =reliqu(us) remaining + -iae pl. n. suffix]

leftover, relic, relief - Before leftovers were called leftovers, they were called relics, and, before that, relief.

relic

A part of the body or something used or associated with a saint or other very important religious figure such as the Buddha.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	relic - an antiquity that has survived from the distant past antiquity - an artifact surviving from the past archeological remains - a relic that has been excavated from the soil
	2.	relic - something of sentimental value keepsake, souvenir, token object, physical object - a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow; "it was full of rackets, balls and other objects" love-token - keepsake given as a token of love party favor, party favour, favour, favor - souvenir consisting of a small gift given to a guest at a party

relic

noun

1. remnant, vestige, memento, trace, survival, scrap, token, fragment, souvenir, remembrance, keepsake a relic from the past

plural noun

1. remains, bones, sacred objects, holy objects ancient Egyptian relics

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

relic

noun

A mark or remnant that indicates the former presence of something:

remains, trace, vestige.

Translations

بَقِيَّه، أثَررُفات

relikviepamátka

levnrelikvie

Relikt Reliquie

reliquia

pyhäinjäännösreliikki

relique vestige

שריד

ereklyerelikviaemlék

reliquia resto ricordo avanzo cimelio

reliktas

paliekas

fornminne levning relikvie

pamiatkarelikvia

relikvija

kutsal emanet/kalıntıtarihi kalıntıyadigâr

圣人遗物圣骨遗迹

relic

[ˈrelɪk] N (Rel) → reliquia f (fig) → vestigio m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

relic

[ˈrɛlɪk] n

(= sacred object) → relique f

[the past] → vestige m, relique f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

relic

n → Überbleibsel nt, → Relikt nt; (Rel) → Reliquie f; a relic of or from the past → ein Überbleibsel nt → aus vergangener Zeit; an old relic (pej inf, = person) → ein alter Knochen (inf); (= car/wardrobe etc) → ein vorsintflutlicher Karren/Schrank etc (pej inf)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

relic

[ˈrɛlɪk] n (Rel) → reliquia (fig) (of the past) → retaggio

relic

(ˈrelik) noun

1. something left from a past time. relics of an ancient civilization.

2. something connected with, especially the bones of, a dead person (especially a saint).

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Insensibly comforted by this, the clergyman found his thoughts reverting voluntarily to his favorite relic, which came a good second in his sympathies to his favorite nephew, and before he knew where he was he found himself encircled by the group discussing its loss, and more or less carried away on the current of their excitement.

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"It is very true that he had not much hair," said the palmer quickly, "and it is this which makes this relic so exceeding precious.

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My own idea, on first catching sight of the object, was that it was a Roman relic of some sort, - relic of WHAT I do not know, possibly of a coffin.

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"If you lose the green flag, you lose the last relic of Mary--and more than that, if my belief is right."

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He maintained, with peculiar satisfaction, it seemed, that maiden modesty is a mere relic of barbarism, and that nothing could be more natural than for a man still youngish to handle a young girl naked.

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The Prior of Jorvaulx crossed himself and repeated a pater noster, in which all devoutly joined, excepting the Jew, the Mahomedans, and the Templar; the latter of whom, without vailing his bonnet, or testifying any reverence for the alleged sanctity of the relic, took from his neck a gold chain, which he flung on the board, saying ``Let Prior Aymer hold my pledge and that of this nameless vagrant, in token that when the Knight of Ivanhoe comes within the four seas of Britain, he underlies the challenge of Brian de Bois-Guilbert, which, if he answer not, I will proclaim him as a coward on the walls of every Temple Court in Europe.''

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Some authorities stated that a devotional cross had once formed the complete erection thereon, of which the present relic was but the stump; others that the stone as it stood was entire, and that it had been fixed there to mark a boundary or place of meeting.

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I must congratulate you on coming into the possession, though in rather a tragic manner of a relic which is of great intrinsic value, but of even greater importance as an historical curiosity.'

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Its subject was the so-called Black Museum at Scotland Yard; and from the catchpenny text we first learned that the gruesome show was now enriched by a special and elaborate exhibit known as the Raffles Relics.

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Likewise, by way of preliminary, I desire to remind the reader, that while in the earlier geological strata there are found the fossils of monsters now almost completely extinct; the subsequent relics discovered in what are called the Tertiary formations seem the connecting, or at any rate intercepted links, between the antichronical creatures, and those whose remote posterity are said to have entered the Ark; all the Fossil Whales hitherto discovered belong to the Tertiary period, which is the last preceding the superficial formations.

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"Now I have got you," said Sancho; "in that case the fame of them who bring the dead to life, who give sight to the blind, cure cripples, restore health to the sick, and before whose tombs there are lamps burning, and whose chapels are filled with devout folk on their knees adoring their relics be a better fame in this life and in the other than that which all the heathen emperors and knights-errant that have ever been in the world have left or may leave behind them?"

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Two panels were entirely hidden under pen-and-ink sketches, Gouache landscapes and Audran engravings, relics of better times and vanished luxury.

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