Vestige \Ves"tige\, n. [F., from L. vestigium footprint, trace,
sign; the last part (-stigium) is probably akin to E. sty, v.
i. Cf. Investigate.]
1. 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?
--Burke.
[1913 Webster]
Ridicule has followed the vestiges of Truth, but
never usurped her place. --Landor.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Biol.) 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.
Usage: Vestige, Trace. These words agree in marking some
indications of the past, but differ to some extent in
their use and application. Vestige is used chiefly in
a figurative sense, for the remains of something long
passed away; as, the vestiges of ancient times;
vestiges of the creation. A trace is literally
something drawn out in a line, and may be used in this
its primary sense, or figuratively, to denote a sign
or evidence left by something that has passed by, or
ceased to exist. Vestige usually supposes some
definite object of the past to be left behind; while a
trace may be a mere indication that something has been
present or is present; as, traces of former
population; a trace of poison in a given substance.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
vestige
n : an indication that something has been present; "there wasn't
a trace of evidence for the claim"; "a tincture of
condescension" [syn: trace, tincture, shadow]
WordNet (r) 2.0
177 Moby Thesaurus words for "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
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
shadow, tincture, trace
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