vestige

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: ves=tige

CIDE DICTIONARY

vestige, n. [F., from L. vestigium footprint, trace, sign; the last part (-stigium) is probably akin to E. sty, v. i. Cf. Investigate.].

•  The mark of the foot left on the earth; a track or footstep; a trace; a sign; hence, a faint mark or visible sign left by something which is lost, or has perished, or is no longer present; remains; as, the vestiges of ancient magnificence in Palmyra; vestiges of former population.  [1913 Webster]

  "What vestiges of liberty or property have they left?"  [1913 Webster]

  "Ridicule has followed the vestiges of Truth, but never usurped her place."  [1913 Webster]
•  A small, degenerate, or imperfectly developed part or organ which has been more fully developed in some past generation.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Syn. -- Trace; mark; sign; token.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

vestige, n.
1 a trace or piece of evidence; a sign (vestiges of an earlier civilization; found no vestige of their presence).
2 a slight amount; a particle (without a vestige of clothing; showed not a vestige of decency).
3 Biol. a part or organ of an organism that is reduced or functionless but was well developed in its ancestors.

Etymology

F f. L vestigium footprint

THESAURUS

vestige

account, afterglow, afterimage, ancient manuscript, annals, antique, antiquity, archaism, artifact, balance, boss, bump, butt, butt end, candle ends, catalog, catchword, cave painting, chaff, chronicle, clue, colophon, concavity, convexity, correspondence, cue, cue word, dactylogram, dactylograph, dash, debris, dent, detritus, dint, documentation, embossment, end, eolith, evidence, excrescence, fag end, filings, fingerprint, footmark, footprint, footstep, fossil, fossil footprint, fragment, glimmer, hint, history, holdover, hot lead, husks, ichnite, ichnolite, impress, impression, imprint, indent, indentation, indention, infusion, inkling, intimation, inventory, key, key word, lead, leavings, leftovers, letters, list, lump, mark, memento, memorial, mezzolith, microlith, neolith, odds and ends, offscourings, orts, pad, paleolith, parings, path, paw print, pawmark, petrification, petrified forest, petrified wood, petroglyph, pimple, pipe roll, plateaulith, print, pug, pugmark, rag, rags, record, recording, refuse, register, registry, relic, relics, reliquiae, remainder, remains, remnant, residue, residuum, rest, roach, roll, rolls, roster, rota, rubbish, ruin, ruins, rump, sauce, sawdust, scent, scourings, scrap, scraps, scroll, seal, seasoning, shade, shadow, shavings, sigil, sign, signet, smack, soupcon, spice, spoor, sprinkling, stamp, step, straw, stubble, stud, stump, suggestion, survival, suspicion, sweepings, table, tag, taint, taste, telltale, tempering, thought, thumbmark, thumbprint, tinct, tincture, tinge, tint, tip-off, token, touch, trace, track, tract, trail, waste, whiff

ROGET THESAURUS

vestige

Record

N record, trace, vestige, relic, remains, scar, cicatrix, footstep, footmark, footprint, pug, track mark, wake, trail, scent, piste, monument, hatchment, slab, tablet, trophy, achievement, obelisk, pillar, column, monolith, memorial, memento, testimonial, medal, commemoration, record, note, minute, register, registry, roll, cartulary, diptych, Domesday book, catalogue raisonne, entry, memorandum, indorsement, inscription, copy, duplicate, docket, notch, muniment, deed, document, deposition, proces verbal, affidavit, certificate, notebook, memorandum book, memo book, pocketbook, commonplace book, portfolio, pigeonholes, excerpta, adversaria, jottings, dottings, gazette, gazetteer, newspaper, daily, magazine, almanac, almanack, calendar, ephemeris, diary, log, journal, daybook, ledger, cashbook, petty cashbook, professional journal, scientific literature, the literature, primary literature, secondary literature, article, review article, archive, scroll, state paper, return, blue book, statistics, compte rendu, Acts of, Transactions of, Proceedings of, Hansard's Debates, chronicle, annals, legend, history, biography, Congressional Records, registration, registry, enrollment, inrollment, tabulation, entry, booking, signature, recorder, journalism, recording, tape recording, videotape, compact disk, floppy disk, diskette, hard disk, Winchester disk, read-only memory, ROM, write once read mostly memory, WORM, on record, exegi monumentum aere perennium, read their history in a nation's eyes, records that defy the tooth of time.