reliquary
/ˈɹɛlɪ(ˌ)kwɛɹi/ noun
Forms reliquaries
- noun (religion) A container to hold or display religious relics.
- noun (figuratively) An object that sustains the memory of past people or events.
- noun (law) A person who owes a balance.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French reliquaire (modern French reliquaire), from Late Latin reliquiarium, from rēliquia (“a relic”) (English relic), noun use of reliquus (“abandoned, left behind, relict”), from relinquō (“to relinquish”), from re- (“again”) and linquō (“to leave”), from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ-.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [LL.reliquiarium, reliquiare: cf. F. reliquaire. See Relic.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “reliquary”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details