fossil en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈfɑsl̩/ (General-American)
- (US) audio
- /ˈfɒsl̩/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
From French fossile, from Latin fossilis (“something which has been dug up”), from fodio (“to dig up”).
Meanings
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The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.
With the permission of the Keeper of the fossil collection, therefore, the specimen was subjected to a further careful removal of the matrix in the requisite directions.
1870, T. H. Huxley, “On Hypsilophodon Foxii, a new Dinosaurian from the Wealden of the Isle of Wight”, in Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, volume 26, page 9:Within the Hepaticae two types of fossils can be distinguished: those with sufficient characters to assign them to an order and those with more obscure characters.
1987, Cora Oostendorp, The Bryophytes of the Palaeozoic and the Mesozoic (Bryophytorum Bibliotheca; 34), Berlin, Stuttgart: J. Cramer, page 9:
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Any preserved evidence of ancient life, including shells, imprints, burrows, coprolites, and organically-produced chemicals.
You know what, we’ve got a limited number of heartbeats in this world so if you’re only truly happy researching fossils and can make it work for you, you go for it.
2016 November 9, Mark Carnall, “Is palaeontology a waste of public money?”, in The Guardian:He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.
2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 13 Feb 2012, page 162:
- A fossil word.
- (figuratively) Anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated.
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(derogatory, figuratively) An extremely old or outdated person.
All at once there was a tapping at the window pane. Atherton was staring at us from without. He shouted through the glass, ‘Come out of that, you fossils! — I’ve news for you!’
1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:“[…] What have you done with your old fossil?” “M. Poirot has gone to Paris,” I replied coldly. “And I can tell you, M. Giraud, that he is anything but an old fossil. He has solved many cases that have completely baffled the English police.”
1923, Agatha Christie, The Murder on the Links:I do not want to convey any disrespectful notion or slight when I call those good and learned men fossils, but my experience is that people are apt to fossilise even at a University if they follow the same paths too persistently.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
- (Internet, colloquial) A piece of content, which, despite its age, is being repromoted to a large volume of users by the algorithm.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fossils | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
trace fossil · cast fossil · fossiled · fossilization · fossil gas · fossilology · macrofossil · megafossil · fossillike · fossilist · fossil resin · nonfossil · fossil twister · fossilize · index fossil · fossildom · fossility · fossilism · nanofossil · fossil oil · fossiliferous · palynofossil · chemofossil · magnetofossil · fossil fool · pseudofossil · fossilogy · subfossil · microfossil · fossil fuel · fossilisation · mesofossil · semifossil · fossilhood · fossilise · fossilate · fossil damascus · fossil record · technofossil · fossil water · mold fossil · non-fossil · living fossil · fossilify · fossilification · fossil car · ichnofossil · body fossil
Relateds
Translations (113)
nb fossil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · fi fossiili (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ur فوصِل (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · uk фосі́лія (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ur سَن٘گوارَہ (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · km ហ្វូស៊ីល (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · be скамяне́ласць (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ro fosilă (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · hu ősmaradvány (paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life) · ja 化石 (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · sk skamenelina (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ja 化石 (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · eo fosilio (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ar أُحْفُورَة (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ca fòssil (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · fi fossiili (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · bg изкопаемо (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · yo àkẹ̀kù (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · it fossile (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ro fosilă (a fossilized term) · ru ископа́емое (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · mi mātātoka (paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life) · ur فوسِل (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ga iontaise (paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life) · fa فسیل (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · ru окамене́лость (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · nn fossil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ga iontaise (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ro fosilă (paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life) · km បាសាណីភូត (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · bg фоси́л (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · uk скам'яні́лість (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · uk копа́лина (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · sh fòsīl (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · tl posil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · sl fosil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · pt fóssil (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · da oldtidslevning (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · fa سنگواره (paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life) · cs zkamenělina (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · mn чулуужсан сэг (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · mk фоси́л (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · de Fossil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · pl skamielina (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · it fossile (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · cs fosilie (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · cmn 化石 (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · pt fóssil (a fossilized term) · it fossile (paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life) · ur کُنجْوَر (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · lv pārakmeņojums (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · pt fóssil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · lv fosilija (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · es fósil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · be вы́капень (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · is steingervingur (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ko 화석 (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · th ซากดึกดำบรรพ์ (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ru фосси́лия (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · sv fossil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · yi פֿאָסיל (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · hi जीवाश्म (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · fr fossile (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · hu őskövület (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · sl okamenina (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · fa سنگواره (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ota مستحاثه (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · hu fosszília (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · he מְאוּבָּן (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · sh фо̀сӣл (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ur رِکاز (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · eu fosil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ca fòssil (a fossilized term) · ar مُسْتَحَاثَة (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · mi mātātoka (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · it fossile (a fossilized term) · tr fosil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · gl fósil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · lt fosilija (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · bg фосил (paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life) · fa فسیل (paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life) · ms fosil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · et kivistis (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · lo ຊາກຊີວະບູຮານ (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ka ნამარხი (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ru ископа́емое (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · ast fósil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · cmn 化石 (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · hi जीवाश्म (paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life) · sw kisukuku (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · tr fosil (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · vi hoá thạch (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · sh fòsīl (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · ca fòssil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · nrf fossile (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · tl hayto (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · id fosil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · he מְאֻבָּן (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · el απολίθωμα (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · th ฟอสซิล (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · et fossiil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · sk fosília (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · pl skamieniałość (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · la fossilis (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · nl fossiel (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · io fosilo (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · fi fossiili (a fossilized term) · de Fossil (anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated) · da fossil (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · fa فسیل (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · ro fosilă (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · bg вкаменелост (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant) · tr taşıl (The mineralized remains of an animal or plant)