WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Fos"sil
Part of Speech : a.
Etymology : [L. fossilis, fr. fodere to dig: cf. F. fossile. See Fosse.]
Definition : 1. Dug out of the eart; as, fossil coal; fossil salt.

2. (Paleon.)

Defn: Like or pertaining to fossils; contained in rocks. whether petrified or not; as, fossil plants, shells. Fossil copal, a resinous substance, first found in the blue clay at Highgate, near London, and apparently a vegetable resin, partly changed by remaining in the earth. -- Fossil cork, flax, paper, or wood, varieties of amianthus. -- Fossil farina, a soft carbonate of lime. -- Fossil ore, fossiliferous red hematite. Raymond.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Fos"sil
Part of Speech : n.
Definition : 1. A substance dug from the earth. [Obs.]

Note: Formerly all minerals were called fossils, but the word is now restricted to express the remains of animals and plants found buried in the earth. Ure.

2. (Paleon.)

Defn: The remains of an animal or plant found in stratified rocks. Most fossils belong to extinct species, but many of the later ones belong to species still living.

3. A person whose views and opinions are extremely antiquated; one whose sympathies are with a former time rather than with the present. [Colloq.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913