residuum

[ ri-zij-oo-uhm ]

noun

, plural re·sid·u·a [ri-, zij, -oo-, uh].

1. the residue, remainder, or rest of something.
2. Also Chemistry. a quantity or body of matter remaining after evaporation, combustion, distillation, etc.
3. any residual product.
4. Law. the residue of an estate.

residuum

/ rɪˈzɪdjʊəm /

noun

1. a more formal word for residue

Word History and Origins

Origin of residuum¹

From Latin, dating back to 1665–75; residual

Example Sentences

“It feels like a publicity stunt, aimed at sending a message worldwide that the French government takes the ‘unclaimed’ works, the apparent residua from the Second World War, seriously.”

From Washington Post

The statement is quite definitive, calling him “completely recovered, there is not any residuum remained.”

From New York Times

The bed looked like the residuum of a lost weekend, yet it also intimated that the bed’s occupant felt herself to be lost, too.

From The New Yorker

Immunological memory is the residuum of a successful immune response that in the B cell lineage comprises long-lived plasma cells and long-lived memory B cells.

From Science Magazine

Among his circle of correspondents are those who advocate "a war that was longer and might act as a purgative, sweeping away what was rotten, reducing the number of fertile males among the residuum."

From The Guardian

Related Words

• bit
• fragment
• particle
• piece
• remains
• residue
• shred
• vestige