reliquary

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A container to hold or display religious relics.
  2. An object that sustains the memory of past people or events.
  3. A person who owes a balance.

Pronunciation

/ˈɹɛlɪkwɛɹi/ /ˈɹɛlɪkwəɹi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-reliquary.wav

Word forms

reliquary reliquaries

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French reliquaire (modern French reliquaire), from Late Latin reliquiarium, from rēliquia (“a relic”) (English relic), noun use of reliquus (“abandoned, left behind, relict”), from relinquō (“to relinquish”), from re- (“again”) and linquō (“to leave”), from Proto-Indo-European *leikʷ-.

Related words

Derived words

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