fossil: [17] Etymologically, a fossil is something ‘dug’ out of the ground. It comes via French fossile from Latin fossilis ‘dug up’, a derivative of the verb fodere ‘dig’. The English adjective originally meant virtually the same as Latin fossilis (‘Seven unmixt fossil Metals are forecited’, Robert Vilvain, Epitome of Essais 1654), and this sense survives in the present-day expression fossil fuel, but the word’s main modern connotation ‘excavated relic of a former life-form’ had begun to emerge by the mid 17th century.
fossil (n.)
1610s, "any thing dug up;" 1650s (adj.) "obtained by digging" (of coal, salt, etc.), from French fossile (16c.), from Latin fossilis "dug up," from fossus, past participle of fodere "to dig," from PIE root *bhedh- "to dig, pierce."
Restricted noun sense of "geological remains of a plant or animal" is from 1736 (the adjective in the sense "pertaining to fossils" is from 1660s); slang meaning "old person" first recorded 1859. Fossil fuel (1833) preserves the earlier, broader sense.
实用例句
1. The fossil fuels (coal and oil) are finite resources.
化石燃料（如煤和石油）属于有限资源。
来自柯林斯例句
2. Peter Forey is curator of fossil fishes at the Natural History Museum.
彼得·福雷是自然历史博物馆鱼类化石展厅的负责人。
来自柯林斯例句
3. The electricity industry consumes large amounts of fossil fuels.
电力工业消耗大量的矿物燃料。
来自《权威词典》
4. At this distance of time it is difficult to date the fossil.