vestige (noun) - a small remainder of something that is disappearing or already lost; a relic or reminder [ves-tij]
vestigial means something that incompletely developed, no longer functional or useful, or a last remnant of something larger
BREAKDOWN: A word that has not outlived its usefulness, vestige comes to English from the French vestige with the same meaning but ultimately from the Latin vestigium meaning footstep, footprint, or track.
“Lying in a featherbed will bring you no fame, nor staying beneath the quilt, and he who uses up his life without achieving fame leaves no more vestige of himself on Earth than smoke in the air or foam upon the water.” —Dante Alighieri
[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not necessarily derived from classical roots.]