Residua

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The leftover pieces or materials that remain after a certain process or action have taken place are often called remnants
2. Substances that are preserved after the main components have been extracted during a process can be described as residues
3. Materials that remain once a process is completed and the main parts are removed

Etymology: "Residua" is the plural of "residuum," a word borrowed directly from Latin, where "residuum" meant "that which remains" and came from "residuus," meaning remaining or left over. The Latin verb "residere" ("to remain behind," "to settle") is the source of both that adjective and the noun, built from "re-" (back, again) and "sedere" (to sit). The image is of something sitting back after everything else has moved on. English also has "residue," which is a doublet of "residuum": the two words descend from the same Latin noun, but "residue" arrived through Old French, so it came into English in a more worn-down form while "residuum" was taken straight from Latin. The Latin plural "residua" is what you see here, and it is used in English mainly in technical and scientific writing to refer to several leftover portions at once.

Synonyms: remnants, leftovers, residue