vestige

noun

ves·​tige ˈve-stij 

1

a(1)

: a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something (such as an ancient city or a condition or practice) vanished or lost

(2)

: the smallest quantity or trace

b

: footprint sense 1

2

: a bodily part or organ that is small and degenerate or imperfectly developed in comparison to one more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a past generation, or in closely related forms

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Vestige, Trace, and Track

Vestige traces to Latin vestigium, meaning "footstep, footprint, or track." Like its parent, it is used to refer to a perceptible sign made by something that has passed or to a tangible reminder, such as a fragment or remnant of what is past and gone.

Synonyms

• echo
• ghost
• relic
• shadow
• trace

Choose the Right Synonym for vestige

trace, vestige, track mean a perceptible sign made by something that has passed.

trace may suggest any line, mark, or discernible effect.

the killer left no traces

vestige applies to a tangible reminder such as a fragment or remnant of what is past and gone.

boulders that are vestiges of the last ice age

track implies a continuous line that can be followed.

the fossilized tracks of dinosaurs

Examples of vestige in a Sentence

a few strange words carved on a tree were the only vestige of the lost colony of Roanoke

the fossilized vestige of a dinosaur that traversed that muddy landscape millions of years ago

Recent Examples on the Web

Globes have long since lost any vestige of utility. —Michael O’Donnell, WSJ, 17 Nov. 2023

Encoded in that microwave fuzz are vestiges of events that occurred when the cosmos was less than one-trillionth of a second old and brimming with energies far beyond the capacity of modern particle colliders. —Dennis Overbye Hiroko Masuike, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2023

This is a vestige of redlining, a racist U.S. government policy that took root in the 1920s and 1930s. —Catherine Brinkley, The Conversation, 29 Aug. 2023

As the former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Lahaina was a vestige of that pre-colonial history. —Alicia Victoria Lozano, NBC News, 5 Nov. 2023

The case, in a way, is the last, great vestige of the IRS before it was gutted by budget cuts over the course of the 2010s and corporate audits plummeted. —Paul Kiel, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2023

Other army vestiges include a jerrycan, fold-down windshield, and bumper hooks for helicopter transport. —Clifford Atiyeh, Car and Driver, 16 Aug. 2023

The silicate layer might be a lingering vestige of an ancient ocean of magma that once covered the Red Planet, per the research. —Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Oct. 2023

In the long run, Byrne’s celebrity in the burgeoning New York arts scene would erode the last vestiges of camaraderie in a band whose members, now in their mid-thirties, were otherwise settling down with families of their own. —Jonathan Gould, The New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French, from Latin vestigium footstep, footprint, track, vestige

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

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Kids Definition

vestige

noun

ves·​tige ˈves-tij 

1

a

: a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something (as an ancient city or a condition or practice) vanished or lost

vestiges of lost civilizations

b

: the smallest quantity or trace

not a vestige of regret

2

: a small and imperfectly developed bodily part or organ that is the remains of one that was more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a past generation, or in a closely related form

vestigial

ve-ˈstij-(ē-)əl 

adjective

Etymology

from French vestige "sign of something vanished or lost," from Latin vestigium "footprint" — related to investigate

Medical Definition

vestige

noun

ves·​tige ˈves-tij 

: a bodily part or organ that is small and degenerate or imperfectly developed in comparison to one more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a past generation, or in closely related forms