Lexic.us

Definition of Fossil

1. Adjective. Characteristic of a fossil.

2. Noun. Someone whose style is out of fashion.

3. Noun. The remains (or an impression) of a plant or animal that existed in a past geological age and that has been excavated from the soil.

Definition of Fossil

1. a. Dug out of the earth; as, fossil coal; fossil salt.

2. n. A substance dug from the earth.

Definition of Fossil

1. Noun. The mineralized remains of an animal or plant. ¹

2. Noun. (paleontology) Any preserved evidence of ancient life, including shells, imprints, burrows, coprolites, and organically-produced chemicals. ¹

3. Noun. (linguistics) A fossilized term. ¹

4. Noun. (figuratively) Anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Fossil

1. the remains of an animal or plant preserved in the earth's crust [n -S]

Medical Definition of Fossil

1. 1. Dug out of the eart; as, fossil coal; fossil salt. 2. Like or pertaining to fossils; contained in rocks. Whether petrified or not; as, fossil plants, shells. Fossil copal, a resinous substance, first found in the blue clay at Highgate, near London, and apparently a vegetable resin, partly changed by remaining in the earth. Fossil cork, flax, paper, or wood, varieties of amianthus. Fossil farina, a soft carbonate of lime. Fossil ore, fossiliferous red hematite. Formerly all minerals were called fossils, but the word is now restricted to express the remains of animals and plants found buried in the earth. 3. The remains of an animal or plant found in stratified rocks. most fossils belong to extinct species, but many of the later ones belong to species still living. 4. A person whose views and opinions are extremely antiquated; one whose sympathies are with a former time rather than with the present. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Fossil

fossate fosse fossed fosses fosset fossette fossettes fosseway fosseways fossick

fossicked fossicker fossickers fossicking fossicks fossil (current term) fossil copal fossil fuel fossil fuels fossil oil

fossil record fossil records fossil water fossilate fossilated fossilates fossilating fossilhood fossiliferous fossilification

Literary usage of Fossil

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Journal of Science (1864)
"As it is my intention to confine myself to the consideration of the Neanderthal fossil with reference to its place in Nature, I must necessarily be brief in ..."

2. The Auk: Quarterly Journal of Ornithology by American Ornithologists' Union, Nuttall Ornithological Club (1915)
"RW "A Study of the fossil Avifauna of the Equus Beds of the Oregon Desert." Jour. Acad. .Voi. Sci. Phila.. Vol. IX. Pis. xv-xvii. ..."

3. American Anthropologist by American Anthropological Association (1902)
"Owing to the report that relics of human handiwork were found associated with the fossil remains, I resolved to visit Afton and make investigations. ..."

4. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy by Royal Irish Academy (1883)
"The extinct and fossil mammals of Ireland have been variously (numerated. ... Of recent Irish mammals, the only species hitherto found in fossil states are ..."

5. The Encyclopædia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and by Hugh Chisholm (1911)
"All the other genera are fossil: .... pinna; fossil. Carboniferous and Permian. ... Atrina; fossil and recent, from Carboniferous to present day. ..."

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