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A fossil word is a word that is generally obsolete but remains in currency because it is contained within an idiom still in use. 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 An example for a word sense is 'navy' in 'merchant navy', which means 'commercial fleet' (although that sense of navy is obsolete elsewhere).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== *''ado'', as in "without further ado" or "much ado about nothing", although the homologous form "to-do" remains attested ("make a to-do", "a big to-do", etc.) *''amok'', as in "run amok" *''bandy'', as in "bandy about" or "bandy-legged" *''bated'', as in "wait with bated breath", although the derived term "abate" remains in nonidiom-specific use *''beck'', as in "at one's beck and call", although the verb form "beckon" is still occasionally seen in nonidiom-specific use *''bygones'', as in "let bygones be bygones" *''caboodle'', as in "kit and caboodle" (a "born fossil" in that "kit and caboodle" evolved from "kit and boodle", which itself was a fixed phrase borrowed as a unit from Dutch ''kitte en boedel'') *''craw'', as in "sticks in (one's) craw" *''coign'', as in "coign of vantage" *''deserts'', as in "just deserts", although singular "desert" in the sense of "state of deserving" occurs in nonidiom-specific contexts including law and philosophy *''dint'', as in "by dint of" *''druthers'', as in "if I had my druthers..." (note that "druthers" is a "born fossil", having been formed by elision from " 〕 *''loggerheads'' as in "at loggerheads"〔(Phrase Finder ''at loggerheads'' )〕 or loggerhead turtle *''mettle'', as in "test one's mettle" *''neap'', as in "neap tide" *''offing'', as in "in the offing"〔(Phrase Finder ''in the offing'' )〕 *''petard'', as in "hoist() by () own petard" *''riddance'', as in "good riddance" *''shebang'', as in "the whole shebang", but the word can be used as a common noun in programmers' jargon, especially on Unix-like systems *''shrive'', preserved only in inflected forms occurring only as part of fixed phrases: 'shrift' in "short shrift"〔(Phrase Finder 'short shrift' )〕 and 'shrove' in "Shrove Tuesday" *''sleight'', as in "sleight of hand" *''spick'', as in "spick and span" *''tarnation'', as in "what in tarnation...?" (a "born fossil" in that it evolved only in the context of fixed phrases formed by mincing of previously fixed phrases that include the term "damnation") *''turpitude'', as in "moral turpitude" *''wreak'', as in "wreak havoc" *''vim'', as in "vim and vigor" *''yore'', as in "of yore", usually "days of yore" 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「fossil word」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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