RELICT

Relict

A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. In biology a relict is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas, In ecology, an ecosystem which originally ranged over a large expanse, but is now narrowly confined, may be termed a relict, In geology, the term relict refers to structures or minerals from a parent rock that did not undergo metamorphosis when the surrounding rock did, or to rock that survived a destructive geologic process, In agronomy, a relict crop is a crop which was previously grown extensively, but is now only used in one limited ...

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relict

Noun

  1. Something which, or someone who, survives or remains or is left over after the loss of others; a relic.
    1. The surviving member of a married couple after one or the other has died; a widow or widower.
      1. A species, organism or ecosystem which has survived from a previous age: one which was once widespread but which is now found only in a few areas.
  1. A structure or other feature which has survived from a previous age.
  2. A survival of an archaic word, language or other form.
A small number of linguists believe that Cimbrian is not an Austro-Bavarian dialect but a relict of Lombardic.

Adjective

  1. Surviving, remaining.
  2. That is a relict; pertaining to a relict.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: relict
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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