relic
pronunciation
How to pronounce relic in British English:
UK [ˈrelɪk]
How to pronounce relic in American English:
US [ˈrelɪk]
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- Noun:
- an antiquity that has survived from the distant past
- something of sentimental value
Word Origin
- relic
- relic: [13] A relic is etymologically something ‘left’ behind. The word comes via Old French relique from Latin reliquiae ‘remains, particularly of a dead saint’. This was a noun use of the feminine plural of reliquus ‘remaining’, an adjective formed with the prefix re- from the base *liq- ‘leave’ (source also of English delinquent [17] – etymologically ‘leaving things undone’ – and relinquish [15], and also of ellipse, lend, and loan).=> delinquent, ellipse, lend, loan, relinquish
- relic (n.)
- early 13c., "body part or other object from a holy person," from Old French relique (11c., plural reliques), from Late Latin reliquiæ (plural) "remains of a martyr," in classical Latin "remains, remnants," noun use of fem. plural of reliquus "remaining, that which remains," related to relinquere (perfective reliqui) "to leave behind" (see relinquish). Sense of "remains, ruins" is from early 14c. Old English used reliquias, directly from Latin.
Example
- 1. A relic of the soviet invasion sits near the road .
- 2. Gold is still a barbaric relic whose value rises only when inflation is high .
- 3. Now the driftwood hut is a relic of a bygone age , in a wilderness of breathtaking beauty .
- 4. Many of beijing 's waterways were filled in , leaving just this creaky relic of sino-soviet amity to save its streets from flooding .
- 5. But when lenin died in 1924 , joseph stalin insisted on putting his corpse on public display in red square , creating a secular , communist relic .