residual
/ɹɪˈzɪd͡ʒ.ʊəl//ɹɪˈzɪd͡ʒ.u.əl/
residual adjective: of, relating to, or remaining as a residue; left over.
Adjective
residual (not comparable)
- Of, relating to, or remaining as a residue; left over.
- Yet certain films leave a residual memory—such as Psycho: many people still feel uneasy showering in a motel bathroom.1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 185
- Abolitionists argued that race had no place in a free and democratic society as a dividing line. Economic and social policies and practices, they argued, should be race-neutral and egalitarian. Yet despite these racially egalitarian values, much abolitionist rhetoric exhibited a strong residual...2006, Matt Wray, Not Quite White, page 59
Noun
residual (plural residuals)
- A remainder left over at the end of some process.
- Payments made to performers, writers and directors when a recorded broadcast is repeated.
- The tentative deal announced this week by the Writers Guild of America includes many industry-specific aspects, such as the size of writers’ rooms and improved residuals for streaming.2023 September 29, Adam Seth Litwin, “Want to Save Your Job From A.I.? Hollywood Screenwriters Just Showed You How.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
- Because, despite his very small role as shark victim Alex Kintner when he was 12, Voorhees is still being paid residuals – royalties – 50 years later. Every time Jaws is on TV, he earns money. […] “It pays to die,” is how he put it in a recent interview with Syfy.2025 August 18, “‘You’re gonna need a bigger bank account’: how a Jaws child actor turned a fleeting appearance into a fortune”, in The Guardian, →ISSN
- The difference between the observed value and the estimated value of the quantity of interest.
- A spiritual presence left behind in a place as a result of a person's death or some other significant event.
residual meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada
residual in Tamil
- எஞ்சிய, மிஞ்சிய, நின்ற, மீதியான, எச்சமான, எச்சம்
residual in Malayalam
- leftover, remaining, unused
- അവക്ഷിപ്തമായ, ശിഷ്ട, ശേഷ, അവശേഷിക്കുന്ന, അവശിഷ്ടമായ, ശേഷിക്കുന്ന
- enduring, lingering, abiding
- ശേഷിക്കുന്ന, നീണ്ടുനിൽക്കുന്ന, തങ്ങിനിൽക്കുന്ന, സ്ഥിരമായിനിൽക്കുന്ന, നിലനിൽക്കുന്ന, സ്ഥായിയായ
residual in Kannada
- ಉಳಿದ, ಉಳಿಕೆಯ, ಕಳೆದುಳಿದ, ಮಿಕ್ಕಿರುವ, ಅವಶಿಷ್ಟ
Examples of residual in a sentence
- " Diazinon is an insecticide and acaricide with stomach poison and contact activity. It has a wide range of pest-control applications and has long residual effects."
- A myoelectric prosthesis uses EMG signals or potentials from voluntarily contracted muscles within a person's residual limb on the surface of the skin to control the movements of the prosthesis.
- A residual haunting may not be caused by trauma or violence, though.
Synonyms of residual
Forms of residual
| plural | residuals |
|---|
Origin of residual
Recorded since 1570. From residue, itself borrowed during the Middle English period from Old French residu (Modern French résidu), from Latin residuum (“a remainder”), the neuter inflection of residuus (“remaining, left over”), perfect participle of resideō (“to remain behind”), from re- (“back, again”) + sedeō (“to sit, to reside”).
Words formed from residual
Phrases with residual
Questions about residual
- What does residual mean?
- Residual means of, relating to, or remaining as a residue; left over.
- What is residual in Tamil?
- Residual in Tamil is எஞ்சிய, மிஞ்சிய, நின்ற. See Residual meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is residual?
- Residual can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce residual?
- Residual is pronounced /ɹɪˈzɪd͡ʒ.ʊəl/.
Words near residual in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: residual (page history and authors); residual (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); residual (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); residual (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-residual.wav.
Cite this entry: “residual.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/residual. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.