Fossil word  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to:
navigation, search  A fossil word is a word that is generally
obsolete but remains in currency because it is contained within
an idiom still in use.[1][2]  Fossil status can also occur for
word senses and for phrases. 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sense of navy is obsolete elsewhere).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 not otherwise used outside of a legal
context.  English language examples[edit]  See also[edit]     1.
^ fossil. Additions Series, 1993 (Second Edition, 1989 ed.).
Oxford English Dictionary. "A word or other linguistic form
preserved only in isolated regions or in set phrases, idioms, or
collocations"    2. ^ Curme, George Oliver (1931). Syntax. D. C.
Heath and Company.    3. ^ Quinion, Michael. World Wide Words
4. ^ Yahoo dicti