relicts

Noun

relict (plural relicts)

1. (archaic, formal) The surviving member of a married couple after one or the other has died; a widow or widower.
   • Upon which the Chancellor, by way of note said, 'it is suggested, that there is a relict of the deceased, married to another man, who has joined her in a power of attorney to authorize the sale of her interest, […]'1801, Reports of cases decided in the High court of Chancery of Maryland, volume 3, page 268
2. (formal) A species, organism, or ecosystem that has survived from a previous age: one that was once widespread but is now found only in a few areas.
   • […] a continental northern Alaskan element, including a series of endemic species and disjuncts that have survived the Pleistocene glaciation in northern Alaska and thus represent relicts of the much warmer Tertiary […]1966 October, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume I, New York, N.Y.; London: Columbia University Press, →OCLC, page 4
3. (formal) A structure or other feature that has survived from a previous age.
   • Dark rims around the pillows are caused by glaucophane enrichment, possibly a relict of a primary interaction between basalt and seawater, causing Na- enrichment in the original glass crust of the pillows.2011, Mark Keiter, Chris Ballhaus, Frank Tomaschek, A New Geological Map of the Island of Syros (Aegean Sea, Greece), page 16
4. (formal) A survival of an archaic word, language or other form.
   • A small number of linguists believe that Cimbrian is not an Austro-Bavarian dialect but a relict of Lombardic.

See all 6 meanings of relict