RELIC • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Relic

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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

... man in a great walnut bed, a relic of the better days which this lodging house must have seen. The grimy red plush carpet, the red velvet chairs with broken springs, the double gilt-framed mirror above the mantel, had all been respectable, ...

— Youth and the Bright Medusa • Willa Cather

... with these reflections when the colonel once more entered and began pacing moodily up and down the room. The adjutant rose, but at a signal resumed his seat and waited. He was, as he whimsically described himself, "a relic of the previous administration." In those days officers might serve long years on the staff and never know an hour of company duty. Barker had been in the adjutant's office under three different regimental commanders, and, as etiquette required, had tendered his resignation to Button ...

— Lanier of the Cavalry - or, A Week's Arrest • Charles King

... chair, which was a relic from the home of Washington, there was an arch of verdant boughs, with the laurel profusely intermixed, and surmounted by his country's banner, beneath which he had won his victories. Our friend Ernest raised himself on his tiptoes, in hopes ...

— Short Stories Old and New • Selected and Edited by C. Alphonso Smith

... has the capital disadvantage of erecting false standards of measurement, so that the Mu Nu man cannot be just to the hero of Zeta Eta. The secrecy is a spice that overbears the food. The mystic paraphernalia is a relic of the baby-house, which a generous ...

— Ars Recte Vivende - Being Essays Contributed to "The Easy Chair" • George William Curtis

... of her black corkscrew curls and staring blue eyes. Whenever she visited Overlea, Serena was given to her to play with, as a special privilege. Her grandma knew that Edna was careful, but she would not have brought out this relic of her childhood for everyone. "I will put this little shawl around her before you take her, for she has been in a cooler room, and it might chill you to touch her," said grandma, as she wound a small worsted shawl over Serena's blue silk frock. "I will put her on the bed there ...

— A Dear Little Girl's Thanksgiving Holidays • Amy E. Blanchard

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