fos·sil
(fŏs′əl)n.1. A remnant or trace of an organism of a past geologic age, such as a skeleton or leaf imprint, embedded and preserved in the earth's crust.
2. One that is outdated or antiquated: He was viewed as a fossil after decades in the same job.
3. Linguistics a. A word or morpheme that is used only in certain restricted contexts, as kempt in unkempt, but is otherwise obsolete.
b. An archaic syntactic rule or pattern used only in idioms, as so be it.
adj.1. Characteristic of or having the nature of a fossil.
2. Being or similar to a fossil.
3. Belonging to the past; antiquated.
[From Latin fossilis, dug up, from fossus, past participle of fodere, to dig.]
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.
fossil
(ˈfɒsəl) n1. (Palaeontology)
a. a relic, remnant, or representation of an organism that existed in a past geological age, or of the activity of such an organism, occurring in the form of mineralized bones, shells, etc, as casts, impressions, and moulds, and as frozen perfectly preserved organisms
b. (as modifier): fossil insects.
2. informal derogatory a. a person, idea, thing, etc, that is outdated or incapable of change
b. (as modifier): fossil politicians.
3. (Linguistics) linguistics a form once current but now appearing only in one or two special contexts, as for example stead, which is found now only in instead (of) and in phrases like in his stead
4. obsolete any rock or mineral dug out of the earth
[C17: from Latin fossilis dug up, from fodere to dig]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
fos•sil
(ˈfɒs əl)
n. 1. any preserved remains or imprint of a living organism, usu. of a former geologic age, as a bone, shell, or leaf impression.
2. a markedly outdated or old-fashioned person or thing.
3. an obsolete or archaic word preserved in certain restricted contexts, as nonce in for the nonce, or a construction following a pattern no longer productive in the language, as So be it.
adj. 4. of the nature of a fossil: fossil insects.
5. formed from the remains of prehistoric life, as coal or oil: fossil fuels; fossil resins.
6. antiquated.
[1555–65; < French fossile < Latin fossilisobtained by digging, derivative of fodere to dig]
fos′sil•like`, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
fos·sil
(fŏs′əl) The hardened remains or imprint of a plant or animal that lived long ago. Fossils are often found in layers of sedimentary rock and along the beds of rivers that flow through them. Other sources of fossils include tar pits, ice, and amber. ♦ Petroleum, coal, and natural gas, which are derived from the accumulated remains of ancient plants and animals, are called fossil fuels.
fossilize verb
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
fossil
1. The remains of a prehistoric plant or animal found preserved in a solid, mineralized form in rocks or, sometimes, frozen in ice.
2. The remains or trace of an organism preserved in sedimentary rocks.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited