fossil

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See also: Fossil, fóssil, and fòssil

English[edit]

A fossil.
 fossil on Wikipedia

Etymology[edit]

From French fossile, from Latin fossilis (something which has been dug up), from fodio (I dig up).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

fossil (plural fossils)

  1. The mineralized remains of an animal or plant.
  2. (paleontology) Any preserved evidence of ancient life, including shells, imprints, burrows, coprolites, and organically-produced chemicals.
    • 2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist[1], volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 13 February 2012, page 162:
      He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.
  3. (linguistics) A fossil word.
  4. (figuratively) Anything extremely old, extinct, or outdated.
  5. (figuratively) An extremely old or outdated person.
    • 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
      I do not want to convey any disrespectful notion or slight when I call those good and learned men fossils, but my experience is that people are apt to fossilise even at a University if they follow the same paths too persistently.
    • 1897, Richard Marsh, The Beetle:
      All at once there was a tapping at the window pane. Atherton was staring at us from without. He shouted through the glass, ‘Come out of that, you fossils! — I’ve news for you!’

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also[edit]

Danish[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Latin fossilis, from fossa (ditch).

Adjective[edit]

fossil

  1. fossil (noun modifier), fossilised (UK), fossilized
Inflection[edit]
Inflection of fossil
Positive Comparative Superlative
Indefinte common singular fossil 2
Indefinite neuter singular fossilt 2
Plural fossile 2
Definite attributive1 fossile
1) When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite, the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2) The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Etymology 2[edit]

From New Latin fossile.

Noun[edit]

fossil n (singular definite fossilet, plural indefinite fossiler)

  1. fossil
Inflection[edit]

German[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin fossilis (something which has been dug up), from fodio (I dig up).

Adjective[edit]

fossil (strong nominative masculine singular fossiler, not comparable)

  1. fossil

Declension[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • fossil” in Duden online
  • fossil” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Norwegian Bokmål[edit]

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology 1[edit]

From Latin fossilis.

Adjective[edit]

fossil (neuter singular fossilt, definite singular and plural fossile)

  1. fossilised (UK), fossilized, or fossil (noun modifier: e.g. fossil fuels)

Etymology 2[edit]

From New Latin [Term?].

Noun[edit]

fossil m or n (definite singular fossilen or fossilet, indefinite plural fossiler or fossil, definite plural fossilene or fossila)

  1. a fossil (fossilised remains of an animal or plant)
Derived terms[edit]

References[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk[edit]

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology 1[edit]

From Latin fossilis.

Adjective[edit]

fossil (neuter singular fossilt, definite singular and plural fossile)

  1. fossilised (UK), fossilized, or fossil (noun modifier)

Etymology 2[edit]

From New Latin.

Noun[edit]

fossil n (definite singular fossilet, indefinite plural fossil, definite plural fossila)

  1. a fossil (as above)

References[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

fossil

  1. fossil

Declension[edit]

Inflection of fossil
Indefinite Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular fossil
Neuter singular fossilt
Plural fossila
Masculine plural3 fossile
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 fossile
All fossila
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
3) Dated or archaic

Noun[edit]

fossil n

  1. a fossil

Declension[edit]

Declension of fossil 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative fossil fossilet fossil fossilen
Genitive fossils fossilets fossils fossilens
Declension of fossil 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative fossil fossilet fossiler fossilerna
Genitive fossils fossilets fossilers fossilernas

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]