noun
- Ecology. a species or community living in an environment that has changed from that which is typical for it.
- a remnant or survivor.
- a widow.
noun
- ecology
- a group of animals or plants that exists as a remnant of a formerly widely distributed group in an environment different from that in which it originated
- (as modifier)a relict fauna
- geology
- a mountain, lake, glacier, etc, that is a remnant of a pre-existing formation after a destructive process has occurred
- a mineral that remains unaltered after metamorphism of the rock in which it occurs
- an archaic word for widow (def. 1)
- an archaic word for relic (def. 6)
“a widow,” mid-15c., from Old French relict, fem. relicte “person or thing left behind” (especially a widow) and directly from Medieval Latin relicta “a widow,” noun use of fem. of relictus “abandoned, left behind,” past participle adjective from Latin relinquere “to leave behind” (see relinquish).
n.
- Something that has survived; a remnant.