remnant

English

Alternative forms

• remnaunt(obsolete)

Etymology

FromMiddle English,contraction ofremenant,fromAnglo-Normanremanant,present participle ofremaindre,fromLatinremaneō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/ˈɹɛmnənt/

  • Audio(Southern England):

    (file)

• Hyphenation:rem‧nant

Noun

remnant(pluralremnants)

1. The smallportionremaining of a larger thing or group.
   • 1611,The Holy Bible,[…](King James Version), London:[…]Robert Barker,[…],→OCLC,Isaiah10:20–23:

     20 ¶ And it shal come to passe in that day, that theremnantof Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Iacob, shall no more againe stay vpon him that smote them: but shall stay vpon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel in trueth.
     21 Theremnantshall returne, euen theremnantof Iacob, vnto the mightie God.
     22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet aremnantof them shall returne: the consumption decreed shall ouerflow with righteousnesse.

   • 1820,[Walter Scott], chapter XIII, inThe Abbot.[…],volume I, Edinburgh:[…][James Ballantyne & Co.] forLongman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown,[…];and forArchibald Constable and Company,andJohn Ballantyne,[…],→OCLC,page267:

     Even while within sight of persons of the prevailing faith, there were individuals bold enough, by folding their arms and bending their head, to give distant and silent intimation that they recognized sister Magdalen, and honoured alike her person and her purpose. She failed not to notice to her grandson these marks of honour and respect which from time to time she received. “You see,” she said, “my son, that the enemies have been unable altogether to suppress the good spirit, or to root out the true seed. Amid heretics and schismatics, spoilers of the church’s lands, and scoffers at saints and sacraments, there remains aremnant.”

2. The remainingfabricat the end of thebolt.

   Usually not enough to make an entire project by itself,remnantsof several fabrics can be used to makequilts.

3. Anunsoldend of piece goods, as cloth, ribbons, carpets, etc.

Synonyms

• (small remaining portion):relic,residue,remainder,lave;See alsoThesaurus:remainder
• (unsold end of piece goods):remains

Derived terms

• nova remnant
• remnantal
• supernova remnant

Related terms

• remain
• remanent

Translations

small portion remaining of a larger thing or group

• Armenian:մնացորդ(hy)(mnacʻord)
• Bulgarian:оста́тък(bg)m(ostátǎk)
• Catalan:romanalla(ca)f
• Czech:pozůstatekm
• Danish:rest(da)c
• Dutch:resten(nl),overblijfsel(nl)n
• Finnish:jäänne(fi),jäännös(fi),jäämä(fi),ripe(fi)
• French:reste(fr)m
• Georgian:ნარჩენი(narčeni)
• German:Rest(de)m,Überbleibsel(de)n,Relikt(de)n,Überrest(de)
• Greek:

  Ancient:λεῖμμαn(leîmma),λείψανονn(leípsanon)

• Hebrew:זֵכֶר(he)m(zékher)
• Hungarian:maradék(hu)
• Irish:fuílleachm
• Italian:resto(it)m,rimanenza(it)f,avanzo(it)m,residuo(it)m
• Latin:reliquaf
• Macedonian:о́статокm(óstatok)
• Maori:whakamakere,toenga,mōrea
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål:levningm

• Portuguese:resto(pt)m,sobra(pt)f,restante(pt)m
• Russian:оста́ток(ru)m(ostátok)
• Spanish:resto(es)m,restantem,reliquiaf,despojo(es)m,residuo(es)m,retazo(es)m
• Swedish:rest(sv)c
• Ukrainian:за́лишокm(zályšok)

remaining fabric at the end of the bolt

• Bulgarian:оста́тък(bg)m(ostátǎk)
• Dutch:restant(nl)
• Finnish:jätepala
• Galician:retrincom
• Greek:ρετάλι(el)n(retáli)
• Irish:fuílleachm
• Italian:scampolo(it)m,ritaglio(it)m
• Macedonian:о́статокm(óstatok)
• Russian:обре́зок(ru)m(obrézok),оста́ток(ru)m(ostátok)
• Spanish:retazo(es)m

unsold end of piece goods

• Dutch:coupon(nl)
• Finnish:jäännöserä
• French:reste(fr)m
• German:Restposten(de)m
• Italian:rimanenza(it)f
• Macedonian:о́статокm(óstatok)
• Russian:оста́ток(ru)m(ostátok)
• Spanish:partida restantef,remesa restantef

Adjective

remnant(notcomparable)

1. (archaic)Stillleft;remaining.
   • 1639,Thomas Fuller,“Lewis the NinthSetteth Forward against the Turks; the Occasion of His Journey, and His Attendants”, inThe Historie of the Holy Warre,Cambridge, Cambridgeshire:[…]Thomas Buck, one of the printers to theUniversitie of Cambridge[and sold by John Williams, London],→OCLC,book IV,page187:

     [H]is vow was made in his ſickneſſe, whileſt reaſon was ſcarce as yet in the peaceable poſſeſſion of his mind, becauſe of theremnantdregs of his diſeaſe:[…]

   • 1718,Mat[thew] Prior,“Solomonon the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, inPoems on Several Occasions,London:[…]Jacob Tonson[…],and John Barber[…],→OCLC,book II (Pleasure),page461:

     It bid Her feel / No future Pain for Me; but inſtant wed / A Lover more proportion'd to her Bed; / And quiet dedicate herremnantLife / To the juſt duties of an humble Wife.

Further reading

• “remnant”,inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
• “remnant”,inThe Century Dictionary[…],New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,1911,→OCLC.
• “remnant”,inOneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• manrent