I. -də(r) noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Middle French remaindre to remain
1.
a. : an estate (as land) in expectancy that becomes an estate in possession upon the determination of a particular prior estate created at the same time and by the same instrument
if land be conveyed to A for life, and on his death to B, A's life interest is a particular estate and B's interest is a remainder
— distinguished from reversion
b. : the right to succeed to a title or dignity upon the death of the holder
the earl marshalship was granted anew … with many specific remainders — J.H.Round
specifically : the right of succession to a peerage assigned to a specified person or line of descent in default of male issue in the direct line
living members in remainder to the title — Burke's Peerage
2.
a. : a remaining group, part, or trace : rest
half of whom are transported by regular bus service … and the remainder by private conveyances — H.W.H.King
for the second year's work, and throughout the remainder of his course — Bulletin of Meharry Medical College
b. : the number left after subtraction or deduction ; specifically : the undivided part less or lower in degree than the divisor left after division
c. obsolete : a person remaining out of a number
3.
a. : a book belonging to or forming a supply sold at a reduced price by the publisher after sales have become unprofitable
guess that a half of all fiction books … and a quarter of the nonfiction end up as remainders — New York Times Book Review
b. : a stamp of an unsold post office supply of a demonetized issue — usually used in plural
II. adjective
1. : not taken, used, or gone : leftover , remaining
as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage — Shakespeare
2. : of, forming, or selling publishers' remainders
a remainder counter
remainder prices
III. verb
( remaindered ; remaindered ; remaindering -d(ə)riŋ ; remainders )
transitive verb
1. : to sell the unsold copies of (a publication) at a lowered price
2. : to sell usually at a discount the remaining supply of (a demonetized postage stamp) to collectors or dealers
intransitive verb
: to sell remainders