Wordwyrt

relic

/ˈɹelɪk/REH-lik
/ˈɹɛlɪk/REH-lik

Meaningleave behind

Common meaning: surviving object from an earlier time

‘back, again’ + ‘to leave’ → relic

Journey through time

  • re — Latin re- “back, again” (path traced)
  • lic — Latin linquō, lictum “to leave” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as reliquiae.

  1. Latinre- + linquere‘back, again + to leave’source
  2. Latinreliquiae‘leave behind’source
  3. Frenchmeaning shiftsleave behind → remainsreliques‘remains’source
  4. Middle Englishrelykessource
  5. Englishmeaning shiftsremains → surviving object from an earlier timerelic‘surviving object from an earlier time’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin reliquiae, which Skeat analyses as re- ‘back, again’ + linquere ‘to leave’.

Roots and source words

Related words

derelictrelinquishreliquary

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