A fossil word is a
word that is broadly
obsolete
Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer maintained or required even though it may still be in good working order. It usually happens when something that is more efficient or less risky r ...
but remains in current use due to its presence within an
idiom
An idiom is a phrase or expression that typically presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase; but some phrases become figurative idioms while retaining the literal meaning of the phrase. Categorized as formulaic language, ...
,
word sense, or
phrase. An example for a word sense is 'navy' in '
merchant navy', which means 'commercial fleet' (although that sense of navy is obsolete elsewhere). An example for a phrase is '
in point' (relevant), which is retained in the larger phrases '
case in point
Case or CASE may refer to:
Containers
* Case (goods), a package of related merchandise
* Cartridge case or casing, a firearm cartridge component
* Bookcase, a piece of furniture used to store books
* Briefcase or attaché case, a narrow box to ...
' (also 'case on point' in the legal context) and '
in point of fact
IN, In or in may refer to:
Places
* India (country code IN)
* Indiana, United States (postal code IN)
* Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN)
* In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Businesses and organizations
* In ...
', but is rarely used outside of a legal context.
English-language examples
* ''ado'', as in "
without further ado Without may refer to:
* "Without" (''The X-Files''), an episode in the eighth season of ''The X-Files''
* "without", an English preposition
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply p ...
" or "
with no further ado
With or WITH may refer to:
* With, a preposition
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ...
" or "
much ado about nothing", although the homologous form "to-do" remains attested ("make a to-do", "a big to-do", etc.)
* ''amok'', as in "
run amok"
* ''bandy'', as in "
bandy about" or "
bandy-legged
Genu varum (also called bow-leggedness, bandiness, bandy-leg, and tibia vara) is a varus deformity marked by (outward) bowing at the knee, which means that the lower leg is angled inward ( medially) in relation to the thigh's axis, giving the ...
"
* ''bated'', as in "
wait with bated breath", although the derived term "abate" remains in non-idiom-specific use
* ''beck'', as in "
at one's beck and call", although the verb form "beckon" is still used in non-idiom-specific use
* ''champing'', as in "champing at the bit", where "champ" is an obsolete precursor to "chomp", in current use
* ''coign'', as in "
coign of vantage"
* ''deserts'', as in "
just deserts
Desert () in philosophy is the condition of being deserving of something, whether good or bad. It is sometimes called moral desert to clarify the intended usage and distinguish it from the dry desert biome. It is a concept often associated with ...
", although singular "desert" in the sense of "state of deserving" occurs in nonidiom-specific contexts including law and philosophy. "Dessert" is a French loanword, meaning "removing what has been served," and has only a distant etymological connection.
* ''dint'', as in "
by dint of"
* ''dudgeon'', as in "
in high dudgeon"
* ''eke'', as in "
eke out"
* ''fettle'', as in "
in fine fettle", although the verb, 'to fettle', remains in specialized use in metal casting.
* ''fro'', as in "
to and fro"
* ''hark'', as in "hark back to" or "hark at you"
* ''helter skelter'', as in "scattered
helter skelter about the office", Middle English to hasten
* ''hither'', as in "come hither", "hither and thither", and "hither and yon"
* ''inclement'', as in "inclement weather”
* ''jetsam'', as in "
flotsam and jetsam
In maritime law, flotsam'','' jetsam'','' lagan'','' and derelict are specific kinds of shipwreck. The words have specific nautical meanings, with legal consequences in the law of admiralty and marine salvage. A shipwreck is defined as the remai ...
", except in legal contexts (especially admiralty, property, and international law)
* ''kith'', as in "
kith and kin"
* ''nap'', meaning to steal, as in "
kidnap"
* ''lo'', as in "lo and behold"
* ''loggerheads'' as in "
at loggerheads" or
loggerhead turtle
* ''muchness'' as in "
much of a muchness"
* ''neap'', as in "
neap tide"
* ''pale'', as in "
beyond the pale"
* ''shebang'', as in "
the whole shebang", although the word is now used as an unrelated common noun
in programmers' jargon.
* ''shrive'', preserved only in inflected forms occurring only as part of fixed phrases: 'shrift' in "