Fossil word

A fossil word is a word that is broadly obsolete but remains in current use due to its presence within an idiom or phrase.^[1]^[2] An example for a word sense is 'ado' in 'much ado'. An example for a phrase is 'in point' (relevant), which is retained in the larger phrases 'case in point' (also 'case on point' in the legal context) and 'in point of fact', but is rarely used outside of a legal context.

^ fossil. Additions Series, 1993 (Second Edition, 1989 ed.). Oxford English Dictionary. A word or other linguistic form preserved only in isolated regions or in set phrases, idioms, or collocations
^ Curme, George Oliver (1931). Syntax. D. C. Heath and Company.^{[page needed]}

[1] fossil. Additions Series, 1993 (Second Edition, 1989 ed.). Oxford English Dictionary. A word or other linguistic form preserved only in isolated regions or in set phrases, idioms, or collocations

[2] Curme, George Oliver (1931). Syntax. D. C. Heath and Company.^{[page needed]}

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