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Definition of "relict" [rel•ict]

  • Ecology An organism or species of an earlier time surviving in an environment that has undergone considerable change. (noun)
  • Something that has survived; a remnant. (noun)
  • A widow. (noun)
  • Geology Of or relating to something that has survived, as structures or minerals after destructive processes. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "relict" in a sentence
  • "The maneless Tsavo lions could be relict -- relict is the wrong word -- cave lions, which were depicted as maneless; it could be they're all lions and the species is wildly variable, too, and I'm curious if anyone knows."
  • "And Judith his relict was a widow now three years and six months."
  • "For she and his relict were the only women in the big boarding-house during the hot months, and they had become intimate."