古フランス語relique, relicから、ラテン語reliquiae（-e, 複数形）, relinquere, to leave, to leave behindから、re-, backwards, backwards, linquere, to leave, to leave behindから、語源的にはdelinquency, relinquishと同じ。
英語の語源
relic
relic: [13] A relic is etymologically something ‘left’ behind. The word comes via Old French relique from Latin reliquiae ‘remains, particularly of a dead saint’. This was a noun use of the feminine plural of reliquus ‘remaining’, an adjective formed with the prefix re- from the base *liq- ‘leave’ (source also of English delinquent [17] – etymologically ‘leaving things undone’ – and relinquish [15], and also of ellipse, lend, and loan). => delinquent, ellipse, lend, loan, relinquish
relic (n.)
early 13c., "body part or other object from a holy person," from Old French relique (11c., plural reliques), from Late Latin reliqui? (plural) "remains of a martyr," in classical Latin "remains, remnants," noun use of fem. plural of reliquus "remaining, that which remains," related to relinquere (perfective reliqui) "to leave behind" (see relinquish). Sense of "remains, ruins" is from early 14c. Old English used reliquias, directly from Latin.
例文
1. The building stands as the last remaining relic of the town 's cotton industry.
この建物は町の綿紡績業で唯一残っている遺跡です。
2.This stone axe is a relic of ancient times.
この石斧は古代の遺物である。
3.A relic is a historical object and reminder of the past.
relic 歴史的遺物、遺跡、記念物を指す。
4.Germany 's asylum law is a relic of an era in European history which has passed.
ドイツの収容法は、ヨーロッパの歴史上、失われた時期の遺留品である。
5.He found himself thinking of the man as a relic from the past.