Fossil Means Dug Up
A fossil is the preserved trace of ancient life. The Latin word simply means something dug from the ground.
A fossil is the preserved remains or trace of an ancient organism. The Latin *fossilis* means merely dug up, and early naturalists applied it to any curious object from the earth, including minerals and crystals. Only in the eighteenth century did it narrow to the remains of living things, once their organic origin was accepted.
- Preserved ancient remains. *A dinosaur fossil.*
- An outdated person or thing. *A political fossil.*
- Fossil fuel — coal, oil or gas. *Reducing fossil fuel use.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | fossil | A marine fossil. |
| Plural | fossils | Rare fossils. |
| Adjective | fossilised | Fossilised wood. |
| Verb | fossilise | It fossilised slowly. |
| Related | fossick | To fossick about. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Trace fossils record behaviour, not bodies.Footprints and burrows.
- Fossil fuels are ancient organic matter.Which is why they are called that.
- A fossil word survives only in one phrase.Like *kith* in kith and kin.
Kinds of fossil
- Body fossil — the remains of the organism itself
- Trace fossil — footprints, burrows or droppings
- Cast and mould — the shape left after the original dissolved
- Amber — organisms preserved in tree resin
- Index fossil — a species used to date the rock layer
From Latin *fossilis*, dug up, from *fodere*, to dig. The restriction to organic remains dates from the eighteenth century.
What is a fossil word?
A word surviving only inside a fixed phrase, such as *kith* in kith and kin, or *fro* in to and fro.
Are fossil fuels really fossils?
They are formed from ancient organic matter, which is why they carry the name, though they are not fossils in the palaeontological sense.