A fossil word is a
word
A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...
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Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer maintained or required even though it may still be in good working order.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
In linguistics, a word sense is one of the meanings of a word. For example, a dictionary may have over 50 different senses of the word " play", each of these having a different meaning based on the context of the word's usage in a sentence, as ...
, or
phrase
In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
. 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merchant navy', which means 'commercial fleet' (although that sense of navy is obsolete elsewhere).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' (also 'case on point' in the legal context) and '
in point of fact', but is rarely used outside of a legal context.
English-language examples
* ''ado'', as in "
without further ado" or "
with no further ado" or "
much ado about nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
", 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", except in legal contexts (especially admiralty, property, and international law)
* ''kith'', as in "