the parts of a dead animal or a plant that have become hard and turned into rock 化石 fossils over two million years old 两百多万年的化石
- (informal, disapproving)
an old person, especially one who is unable to accept new ideas or adapt to changes 老人；（尤指）老顽固，老古董
Word Originmid 16th cent. (denoting a fossilized fish found, and believed to have lived, underground): from French fossile, from Latin fossilis ‘dug up’, from fodere ‘dig’.