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Definition of relic noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

relic

noun
 
/ˈrelɪk/
 
/ˈrelɪk/
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  1. relic (of/from something) an object, a tradition, a system, etc. that has survived from the past
    • The building stands as the last remaining relic of the town's cotton industry.
    • Videotapes may already seem like relics of a bygone era.
    • The pictures on the walls were relics from the days before her marriage.
    • Our transportation system is a relic of the past.
    Extra Examples
    • He seemed to view her as a quaint relic of the past.
    • It was the last relic of the old system.
    • Most of these guns are relics from the Boer War.
    • They believe that hunting is a relic of the past and are calling for it to be banned.
    • This silver belt buckle is the only relic of the battle that survives.
    • a relic of the time when people hunted their own food
    • a relic of the time when people travelled by horse and carriage
    • relics of a bygone age
    Topics Historyc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • ancient
    • last
    • quaint
    verb + relic
    • discover
    • unearth
    • preserve
    relic + verb
    • survive
    preposition
    • relic from
    phrases
    • a relic of an age
    • a relic of a time
    • a relic of the past
    See full entry
  2. a part of the body or clothing of a holy person, or something that they owned, that is kept after their death and respected as a religious object
    • holy relics
    Extra Examples
    • The relics were discovered in a lead box in the ruins of an abbey.
    • The duke secretly removed the relics from the reliquary.
    Topics Religion and festivalsc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • ancient
    • last
    • quaint
    verb + relic
    • discover
    • unearth
    • preserve
    relic + verb
    • survive
    preposition
    • relic from
    phrases
    • a relic of an age
    • a relic of a time
    • a relic of the past
    See full entry
  3. Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French relique (originally plural), from Latin reliquiae feminine plural (used as a noun) of reliquus ‘remaining’, based on linquere ‘to leave’.
See relic in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee relic in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
halfway
adverb
 
 
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