A vestige is a small remaining trace of something that used to exist or be much larger. When you find an old, crumbling stone wall in the woods, you're looking at a vestige of a house or barn that stood there long ago. The wall is all that's left, a hint of what once was.

Scientists find vestiges throughout nature. Whales have tiny hip bones buried in their bodies, vestiges of the legs their ancient ancestors used millions of years ago when they walked on land. Some scientists think your appendix is a vestige of a digestive organ that was useful to your distant ancestors but no longer serves much purpose.

You might also encounter vestiges in everyday life. An old family tradition that nobody remembers the reason for could be a vestige of an important custom from generations past. When a library keeps a card catalog even though everything is now digital, that's a vestige of how libraries used to work.

The word suggests something small, faint, or almost disappeared. A vestigial organ or tradition has outlived its original usefulness, lingering as a faint reminder of the past.