vestige

[ ves-tij ]

noun

1. a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something that is no longer present or in existence:

   A few columns were the last vestiges of a Greek temple.

   Synonyms: token

2. a surviving evidence or remainder of some condition, practice, etc.:

   These superstitions are vestiges of an ancient religion.

3. a very slight trace or amount of something:

   Not a vestige remains of the former elegance of the house.

   Synonyms: suggestion, hint

4. Biology. a degenerate or imperfectly developed organ or structure that has little or no utility, but that in an earlier stage of the individual or in preceding evolutionary forms of the organism performed a useful function.
5. Archaic. a footprint; track.

vestige

/ ˈvɛstɪdʒ /

noun

1. a small trace, mark, or amount; hint

   a vestige of truth

   no vestige of the meal

2. biology an organ or part of an organism that is a small nonfunctioning remnant of a functional organ in an ancestor

Word History and Origins

Origin of vestige¹

First recorded in 1535–45; from Middle French, from Latin vestīgium “footprint”

Word History and Origins

Origin of vestige¹

C17: via French from Latin vestīgium track

Synonym Study

See trace ¹.

Example Sentences

Today, some defunct European dynasties maintain their chivalric orders as a lingering vestige of the power they once held.

From Slate

Inmates are sentenced to time behind bars, not forced labor, a vestige of chain gangs and slavery.

From Los Angeles Times

In their center-court telling, democracy is a vestige of a long-dead bucket of services and promises on which nobody should plausibly rely anymore.

From Slate

Solvang, the vestige of a Danish settlement once regarded as something of an oddity of the Central Valley, now has lines out the door of every restaurant.

From Los Angeles Times

Recently, another vestige of the 2020 election has begun to rear its ugly head: the so-called “independent state legislature” theory.

From Slate

Related Words

• glimmer
• relic
• remnant
• residue