fossil
noun
[ ˈfɒs(ə)l ]
• the remains or impression of a prehistoric plant or animal embedded in rock and preserved in petrified form.
• "sites rich in fossils"
Origin:
mid 16th century (denoting a fossilized fish found, and believed to have lived, underground): from French fossile, from Latin fossilis ‘dug up’, from fodere ‘dig’.
