A relic is something old that has survived from the past, often carrying special meaning or memories. Museums display relics from ancient Rome like coins, tools, and pottery that help us understand how people lived thousands of years ago. Your grandmother's wedding dress stored in the attic is a family relic, connecting you to her special day decades before you were born.

The word suggests something preserved because of its importance or value. A broken calculator from last year isn't a relic, but a handwritten letter from Abraham Lincoln would be. Relics serve as physical links to history, letting us touch or see something that witnessed events we can only read about.

In religious contexts, relics are objects connected to saints or holy figures, treated with great reverence. A small splinter said to come from a saint's walking staff might be displayed in a cathedral, drawing pilgrims from distant lands.

Sometimes people use relic humorously to describe outdated technology still in use. If your school has ancient computers from the 1990s, someone might joke they're relics from another era. The word carries a sense of something that has outlasted its original time and purpose, surviving into a world that has moved on.