vestigial

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Remaining as a small trace of something that was once larger or more important.

   The old laws are now only a vestigial part of the system.

2. 2
   adj

   Of a body part, no longer fully developed because it has lost its original use.

   The appendix is a vestigial organ in humans.

From Latin vestīgium + -al. By surface analysis, vestige + -ial.

Topics