Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Fossil
1.
Dug out of the earth;
as,
fossil
coal; fossil
salt.3.
(Paleon.)
Like or pertaining to fossils; contained in rocks, whether petrified or not;
as,
. fossil
plants, shellsFossil 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
, Fossil flax
, Fossil paper
, or Fossil wood
varieties of amianthus.
– Fossil farina
, a soft carbonate of lime.
– Fossil ore
, fossiliferous red hematite.
Raymond.
Fos′sil
,Noun.
1.
A substance dug from the earth.
[Obs.]
☞ 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.
Ure.
2.
(Paleon.)
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.
3.
A person whose views and opinions are extremely antiquated; one whose sympathies are with a former time rather than with the present.
[Colloq.]
Webster 1828 Edition
Fossil
FOS'SIL
,Adj.
1.
Dug out of the earth; as fossil coal; fossil salt. The term fossil is now usually appropriated to those inorganic substances, which have become penetrated by earthy or metallic particles. Thus we say, fossil shells, fossil bones, fossil wood.2.
That may be taken from the earth by digging.FOS'SIL
,Noun.
Fossils are native or extraneous. Native fossils are minerals, properly so called, as earth, salts, combustibles and metallic bodies. Extraneous fossils are bodies of vegetable or animal origin accidentally buried in the early, as plants, shells, bones and other substances, many of which are petrified.
Definition 2024
Fossil
fossil
fossil
English
A fossil.
Noun
fossil (plural fossils)
- The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.
- (paleontology) Any preserved evidence of ancient life, including shells, imprints, burrows, coprolites, and organically-produced chemicals.
- 2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 162:
- He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.
-
- (linguistics) A fossil word.
- (figuratively) Anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated.
Derived terms
Terms derived from fossil
Translations
The mineralized remains of an animal or plant
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paleontology: any preserved evidence of ancient life
a fossilized term
anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated
See also
Danish
Etymology 1
From Latin fossilis, from fossa (“ditch”).
Adjective
fossil
- fossil (noun modifier), fossilised (UK), fossilized
Inflection
| Inflection of fossil | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Comparative | Superlative | |
| Common singular | fossil | — | —2 |
| Neuter singular | fossilt | — | —2 |
| Plural | fossile | — | —2 |
| Definite attributive1 | fossile | — | — |
| 1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used. 2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively. | |||
Etymology 2
Noun
fossil n (singular definite fossilet, plural indefinite fossiler)
Inflection
Inflection of fossil
| neuter gender |
Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | fossil | fossilet | fossiler | fossilerne |
| genitive | fossils | fossilets | fossilers | fossilernes |
German
Etymology
From Latin fossilis (“something which has been dug up”), from fodio (“I dig up”).
Adjective
fossil (not comparable)
Declension
Declension of fossil
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
| predicative | er ist fossil | sie ist fossil | es ist fossil | sie sind fossil | |
| strong declension (without article) |
nominative | fossiler | fossile | fossiles | fossile |
| genitive | fossilen | fossiler | fossilen | fossiler | |
| dative | fossilem | fossiler | fossilem | fossilen | |
| accusative | fossilen | fossile | fossiles | fossile | |
| weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der fossile | die fossile | das fossile | die fossilen |
| genitive | des fossilen | der fossilen | des fossilen | der fossilen | |
| dative | dem fossilen | der fossilen | dem fossilen | den fossilen | |
| accusative | den fossilen | die fossile | das fossile | die fossilen | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein fossiler | eine fossile | ein fossiles | (keine) fossilen |
| genitive | eines fossilen | einer fossilen | eines fossilen | (keiner) fossilen | |
| dative | einem fossilen | einer fossilen | einem fossilen | (keinen) fossilen | |
| accusative | einen fossilen | eine fossile | ein fossiles | (keine) fossilen | |
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology 1
Adjective
fossil (neuter singular fossilt, definite singular and plural fossile)
- fossilised (UK), fossilized, or fossil (noun modifier: e.g. fossil fuels)
Etymology 2
From New Latin
Noun
fossil m, n (definite singular fossilen or fossilet, indefinite plural fossiler or fossil, definite plural fossilene or fossila)
- a fossil (fossilised remains of an animal or plant)
References
- “fossil” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology 1
Adjective
fossil (neuter singular fossilt, definite singular and plural fossile)
- fossilised (UK), fossilized, or fossil (noun modifier)
Etymology 2
From New Latin
Noun
fossil n (definite singular fossilet, indefinite plural fossil, definite plural fossila)
- a fossil (as above)
References
- “fossil” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Swedish
Adjective
fossil
Declension
| Inflection of fossil | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Indefinite/attributive | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
| Common singular | fossil | — | — |
| Neuter singular | fossilt | — | — |
| Plural | fossila | — | — |
| Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
| Masculine singular1 | fossile | — | — |
| All | fossila | — | — |
| 1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in an attributive role. | |||
Noun
fossil n
- a fossil
Declension
Declension of fossil
Declension of fossil
Related terms
- dinosauriefossil
- fossilbränsle
- fossilerad
- fossilförande
- fossilisation
- fossilisera
- fossilisering
References
- fossil in Svenska Akademiens Ordlista över svenska språket (13th ed., online)