vestige

/ˈvɛs.tɪd͡ʒ/

//ˈvɛs.tɪd͡ʒ// noun

"vestige" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“vestige” is uncommon English (frequency #50,886 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,886
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A mark left on the earth by a foot.

Corpus desk

Index EN-vestige · vestige · English

vestige · rank #50,886 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,886
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH venturi

Nearest frequency peer: venturi (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “vestige”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “vestige” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for vestige
PropertyValue
Headwordvestige
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈvɛs.tɪd͡ʒ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#50,886
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “vestige” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).vestigefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “venturi” (#50,885), “vibrancy” (#50,887), “Vicodin” (#50,888). Among 969 “V” headwords, “vestige” is #50,886. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

vestige is uncommon English at frequency #50,886 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈvɛs.tɪd͡ʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for vestige, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French vestige, from Latin vestīgium (“footstep, footprint, track, the sole of the foot, a trace, mark”). Doublet of vestigium. The correct English form is vestige, spelled V-E-S-T-I-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A mark left on the earth by a foot.
  2. 2
    A faint mark or visible sign left by something which is lost, or has perished, or is no longer present.
  3. 3
    A vestigial organ; a non-functional organ or body part that was once functional in an evolutionary ancestor.
  4. 4
    The remaining portion of a partially suppressed sideband.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how vestige appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. the vestiges of ancient magnificence in Palmyra
  2. vestiges of former population

Etymology

From French vestige, from Latin vestīgium (“footstep, footprint, track, the sole of the foot, a trace, mark”). Doublet of vestigium.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "vestige"?
"vestige" is spelled V-E-S-T-I-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈvɛs.tɪd͡ʒ/.
What does "vestige" mean?
As a noun, "vestige" means: A mark left on the earth by a foot.
How do you pronounce "vestige"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "vestige" is /ˈvɛs.tɪd͡ʒ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "vestige"?
From French vestige, from Latin vestīgium (“footstep, footprint, track, the sole of the foot, a trace, mark”). Doublet of vestigium. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "vestige", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list