vestigial

/ves'tidʤiəl/

Thân thiện

The bird's vestigial wings are too small for flight.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to a remnant or trace of something that was once more fully developed or functional: Describes a physical structure, organ, or characteristic in an organism that is underdeveloped and no longer functional, having been more complete or useful in an ancestral form.
   • Remaining as a small, non-functional part: Indicates something that exists in a diminished, incomplete, or residual form, serving as evidence of a previous state or condition.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The wings of an ostrich are vestigial; they are too small for flight.
  • The human appendix is considered a vestigial organ with no known essential function in modern humans.
  • Some snakes have vestigial limb bones embedded in their bodies, evidence of their evolutionary history.

Advanced Usage

• In a broader, non-biological context: Used metaphorically to describe practices, laws, or features that are outdated remnants from a previous era.
  • The ceremonial title is now a vestigial formality with no real authority.
  • The old clause in the contract is a vestigial provision from a time when such rules were necessary.

Variants and Related Words

• Vestige (n): A trace, mark, or visible sign of something that is no longer present or in existence.
  • The overgrown path was the last vestige of the ancient road.
• Vestigially (adv): In a vestigial manner.
  • The structure persists only vestigially.

Synonyms

• Rudimentary: Involving or limited to basic principles; relating to an immature, undeveloped, or basic form.
• Residual: Remaining after the main part has gone or been taken away.
• Atrophied: (Of body tissue or an organ) wasted away or degenerated, typically due to the degeneration of cells.

Antonyms

• Fully developed: Completely grown or advanced.
• Functional: Designed to be practical and useful, rather than attractive.
• Prominent: Important; famous; projecting from something.

Related Phrases and Concepts

• Vestigial structure: A specific term in biology for an anatomical feature that has lost all or most of its original function through evolution.
  • The pelvic bones in whales are classic examples of vestigial structures.
• Evolutionary remnant: A phrase similar in meaning to "vestigial," emphasizing its origin from an evolutionary process.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. not fully developed in mature animals
   • rudimentary wings

Từ đồng nghĩa

• rudimentary