vestigial

adjective

ves·​ti·​gial ve-ˈsti-jē-əl 

-jəl

1

of a body part or organ : remaining in a form that is small or imperfectly developed and not able to function : being or having the form of a vestige (see vestige sense 2)

a vestigial tail

Kiwis lack an external tail, and their vestigial wings are entirely hidden beneath a curious plumage—shaggy, more like fur than feathers …

—Stephen Jay Gould

2

: remaining as the last small part of something that existed before

It's held in the Gold Room, a vestigial ballroom of the kind that every downtown hotel uses for banquets and conventions.

—William Zinsser

Later colonial laws … prohibited even speaking the Pequot language, now long dead but for a few vestigial words.

—Kirk Johnson

vestigially

ve-ˈsti-jē-ə-lē 

-jə-lē

adverb

Examples of vestigial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In humans, vestigial organs include wisdom teeth and the appendix. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Mar. 2024

In order to reach the widest possible Netflix audience, that cultural context has been completely universalized and most of the biggest ideas, which remain too frequently as vestigial references, have been sanded down to purposeless traces of coolness instead of integral elements. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Mar. 2024

The persistence of these broad categories is partly a vestigial constraint from a time when paper surveys dominated. —Juan Carlos Gonzalez Jr., STAT, 19 Dec. 2023

There have been several local births in town of babies with vestigial tails, most to parents associated with the same fertility clinic, where Eddie works. —Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 10 Sep. 2023

Yet some evolutionary adaptations are vestigial remnants of traits that were useful in the past but have become less significant as animals have evolved. —Roberta McLain, Scientific American, 12 Dec. 2023

Couture may be the vestigial tail of fashion, but that is an entirely contemporary idea. —Vanessa Friedman, New York Times, 4 July 2023

Mission Valley Centers is an example of a vestigial retail center that has long ago outlived its need. —Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 July 2023

Adults have vestigial mouth parts and cannot feed, so flowers won’t attract them. —Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 18 July 2023

Word History

Etymology

Latin vestigium + English -al entry 1

First Known Use

1843, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Medical Definition

vestigial

adjective

ves·​tig·​ial ve-ˈstij-(ē-)əl 

: of, relating to, or being a vestige

a vestigial structure

vestigially

-ē 

adverb