# residue

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɹɛzɪduː/ · frequency rank #14,401

## Definitions
1. That which persists or remains following the removal or elimination of other elements.
2. The substance that remains after evaporation, distillation, filtration or any similar process.
3. A molecule that is released from a polymer after bonds between neighbouring monomers are broken, such as an amino acid in a polypeptide chain.
4. Whatever property or effects are left in an estate after payment of all debts, other charges and deduction of what is specifically bequeathed by the testator.
5. A representative element of an equivalence class modulo some base, conventionally in the half-open interval from zero to the base; the nonnegative remainder after dividing a number by a base.
6. A form of complex number, proportional to the contour integral of a meromorphic function along a path enclosing one of its singularities.

## Etymology
From Middle English residue, from Old French residu, from Latin residuum, neuter of residuus (“remaining”), from resideō (“I remain behind”). Doublet of residuum.

## Easily confused with
- **retinue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/residue-vs-retinue)
- **rescue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/rescue-vs-residue)
- **reside** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/reside-vs-residue)
- **residual** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/residual-vs-residue)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ersidue`, `reisdue`, `resdiue`, `residdue`, `resideu`, `resiude`, `ressidue`, `rresidue`, `rseidue`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/residue