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/rˈɛlɪk/ Listen

noun

Relic n. (Formerly written also relique)

That which remains; that which is left after loss or decay; a remaining portion; a remnant. "The relics of lost innocence." "The fragments, scraps, the bits and greasy relics."

The body from which the soul has departed; a corpse; especially, the body, or some part of the body, of a deceased saint or martyr; usually in the plural when referring to the whole body. "There are very few treasuries of relics in Italy that have not a tooth or a bone of this saint." "Thy relics, Rowe, to this fair urn we trust, And sacred place by Dryden's awful dust."

Hence, a memorial; anything preserved in remembrance; as, relics of youthful days or friendships. "The pearls were spilt; Some lost, some stolen, some as relics kept."

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Etymology of 'Relic'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Relic" Quotes from Famous Books

... parchment pages, and in strange old characters, are the records, made at the time of William the Conqueror, of the disposal of the lands of England among his Norman nobles. It is simply impossible to believe that it is authentic,—that such a very ancient relic ...

— John and Betty's History Visit • Margaret Williamson

... for a week," she said. "Pull out the wardrobe, Scatch; there may be another relic ...

— The Street of Seven Stars • Mary Roberts Rinehart

... Anstruther," the Major said. "Not a lawful child! Some Eurasian legacy—a relic of the old days of the Pagoda Tree! Why, the old commissioner always was a woman hater, and absolutely hostile to all social influences!" The Captain was now stealing longing glances at the willowy figure of the beautiful woman whose glistening dark brown eyes were turned to him with a languid ...

— A Fascinating Traitor • Richard Henry Savage

... uncle’s life—had become, with her sister, a pupil at Port Royal. She suffered from an apparently incurable disease of the eye, fistula lachrymalis. On a sudden she was reported to be entirely cured, and the cure was attributed to the touch of a relic which had been brought to the abbey by a priest,—a supposed thorn from the crown of Christ. It is remarkable that the Mère Angélique was somewhat slow of belief as to the “miracle,” and that she marvelled the world should make so much of it. But it secured the credence of Pascal, and became ...

— Pascal • John Tulloch

... extending to the skirting. The wooden skirting, of about nine inches or a foot in depth, which is placed along the foot of the wall in our modern rooms, is the armour-plating to protect the plaster, which otherwise might be chipped and litter the floor. It is perhaps the last relic of the more substantial and extensive wood panelling and wainscotting which, up to the latter part of the last century, covered the lower walls of the more comfortable houses, and has been revived in our own day. The decorator may use panelling, or wainscotting, ...

— Line and Form (1900) • Walter Crane

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