Leftover

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Remnants of food that have not been eaten after dining
2. Extra resources or items that are not utilized and can be kept for future use
3. Food remaining uneaten once a meal is finished, kept for possible later consumption ; items or materials left unused after the main portion has been taken or used and often stored for later

Etymology: "Leftover" is built from two plain English words. "Left" comes from Old English "lāf" or the verb "lǣfan," meaning remaining or abandoned, and "over" carries the sense of excess, what is still there once the rest has been used. Put together, the compound describes whatever is still left after the main business is done. The word has a fairly direct structure, so its meaning has changed little from its component parts. Its earliest use was as an adjective describing things that remained unused, and it later became a noun for the food left on a plate or in a pot after a meal. That narrowing toward food is the main shift readers will notice, since the compound itself never specified what was left behind.

Synonyms: remnant, surplus, excess

Antonyms: necessity, essential