[ves.tige] n [F, fr. L vestigium footstep, footprint, track, vestige] (1602) 1 a (1): a trace, mark, or visible sign left by something (as an ancient city or a condition or practice) vanished or lost (2): the smallest quantity or trace b: footprint 1
2: a bodily part or organ that is small and degenerate or imperfectly developed in comparison to one more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a past generation, or in closely related forms syn see trace -- ves.ti.gial adj -- ves.ti.gial.ly adv