[fos-uh
l] 
| 1. | any remains, impression, or trace of a living thing of a former geologic age, as a skeleton, footprint, etc. |
| 2. | a markedly outdated or old-fashioned person or thing. |
| 3. | a linguistic form that is archaic except in certain restricted contexts, as nonce in for the nonce, or that follows a rule or pattern that is no longer productive, as the sentence So be it. |
| 4. | of the nature of a fossil: fossil insects. |
| 5. | belonging to a past epoch or discarded system; antiquated: a fossil approach to economics. |
| fossil (fŏs'əl) Pronunciation Key
The remains or imprint of an organism from a previous geologic time. A fossil can consist of the preserved tissues of an organism, as when encased in amber, ice, or pitch, or more commonly of the hardened relic of such tissues, as when organic matter is replaced by dissolved minerals. Hardened fossils are often found in layers of sedimentary rock and along the beds of rivers that flow through them. See also index fossil, microfossil, trace fossil. fossilize verb |