relic: Meaning and Definition of

rel•ic

1. a surviving memorial of something past.
2. an object having interest by reason of its age or its association with the past: a museum of historic relics.
3. a surviving trace of something: a custom that is a relic of paganism.
1. remaining parts or fragments.
2. the remains of a deceased person.
5. something kept in remembrance; souvenir; memento.
6. (esp. in the Roman Catholic and Greek churches) the body, a part of the body, or some personal memorial of a saint, martyr, or other sacred person, preserved as worthy of veneration.
7. a once widespread linguistic form that survives in a limited area but is otherwise obsolete.