relict adjective. ['rɛlɪkt] LME.
[formed as the noun; in recent use prob. attrib. use of the noun.]
1. Left behind, remaining; left by death, surviving; (of land) uncultivated, deserted. LME-L17.

2. Chiefly Biology, Geology, & Linguistics. That is a relict; surviving from a previous age or in changed circumstances after the disappearance of related forms. L19.
■ H. C. Darby Another example of relict names is found on Dunsmore Heath. Scientific American Relict populations of..salmon survive in lakes..landlocked for thousands of years.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲

relict noun. ['rɛlɪkt] LME.
[Latin relictus pa. pple of relinquere RELINQUISH.]
1. The widow of a man; a widow. Now arch. exc. Anglo-Irish. LME.
■ E. Longford Mollie..was now venerated as Erskine's relict.

2. A reliquary. Scot. E16-L17.

3. = RELIC noun 1, 2. Now rare or obsolete. M16.

4. = RELIC noun 3, 4, 5. Now rare exc. as below. M16.

5. a. Chiefly Biology & Geology. A species, structure, etc., surviving from a previous age or in changed circumstances after the disappearance of related species, structures, etc. E20.
Nature Rare plant species are often relicts surviving in restricted ecological niches.
b. Linguistics. A dialect, word, etc., that is a survival of otherwise archaic or old forms. M20.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲