relic

Definition

That which remains; that which is left after loss or decay; a remaining portion.

Etymology

From Middle English relik et al., from Old French relique, from Latin reliquiae (“remains, relics”), from relinquō (“I leave behind, abandon, relinquish”), from re- + linquō (“I leave, quit, forsake, depart from”). Doublet of relict, derelict, and relinquish.

Example Sentences

• "[…] let him not ask our pardon; The nature of his great offence is dead, And deeper than oblivion we do bury The incensing relics of it […]"
• "Though a Cup of cold water from ſome hand may not be without it's reward, yet ſtick not thou for Wine and Oyl for the Wounds of the Distreſſed, and treat the poor, as our Saviour did the Multitude, to the reliques of ſome baskets."
• "1797, Ann Radcliffe, The Italian, London: T. Cadell Jun. & W. Davies, Volume 2, Chapter 6, p. 184, It appeared, from […] the ruins scattered distantly along its skirts, to be a part of the city entirely abandoned by the modern inhabitants to the reliques of its former grandeur."

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