relict

Definition

Something that, or someone who, survives or remains or is left over after the loss of others; a relic.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English relicte (“widow”), from Middle French relicte (“widow”), from Late Latin relicta (“widow”), from Latin relictus, past participle of relinquō (“I abandon, I relinquish, I leave (behind)”), from re- + linquō (“I leave, quit, forsake, depart from”). Doublet of relic, derelict, and relinquish.

Example Sentences

• "Upon which the Chancellor, by way of note said, 'it is suggested, that there is a relict of the deceased, married to another man, who has joined her in a power of attorney to authorize the sale of her interest, […]'"
• "But I am not the penniless nonentity I was when we first met; I can offer an honorable if not a brilliant marriage; and at the very lowest I can provide my wife – my widow, my relict – with a decent competence, an assured future."
• "[…] a continental northern Alaskan element, including a series of endemic species and disjuncts that have survived the Pleistocene glaciation in northern Alaska and thus represent relicts of the much warmer Tertiary […]"