Meanings
nounremains pl (plural only)
- pluralplural onlyThe body or any of its matter that are left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse.
The victim's remains were one small piece of bone.
2 more examples
They buried the remains of their longtime friend in the town cemetery.
The other potential scenario is that the injury sustained from the crash left him so disoriented that he sought help, but died from exposure in the hills surrounding the lake. His remains would have been scattered across thousands of acres of bush and ravine.
2026 July 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Bryce Laspisa Vanished Near Castaic Lake After Spending 13 Hours Parked on a California Highway”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 19 Jul 2026 - pluralplural onlyHistorical or archaeological relics.
- pluralplural onlyThe extant writings of a deceased person.
To his great intellectual powers his published remains bear abundant witness.
- pluralplural onlyAll that is left of the stock of some things; remnants.
He couldn't bring himself to eat the remains of the chicken dinner.
1 more example
Everything a living animal could do to destroy and to desecrate bed and walls had been done. […] A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe.
1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
noun
- pluralrareplural of remain
verb
- indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of remain
We'll go ahead, while she remains here.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian останки, развалини
- останки (ostanki)what is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- развалини (razvalini)relic of an ancient building or other structure
- остатък (ostatăk)all that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
Catalan restes
- resteswhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
Czech ostatky
- ostatkywhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
Dutch overblijfselen, stoffelijk overschot
- overblijfselenwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- stoffelijk overschotwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- overblijfselenrelic of an ancient building or other structure
Finnish jäänteet, rippeet
- jäänteetwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- rippeetall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
- tähteetall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
French dépouille, cendres
- dépouillewhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- cendreswhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- resteswhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- ruinesrelic of an ancient building or other structure
- resteall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
- restesall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
German Gebeine, Überreste
- Gebeinewhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- Überrestewhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- Ruinenrelic of an ancient building or other structure
Hindi अवशेष, अवशेष
- अवशेष (avśeṣ)what is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- अवशेष (avśeṣ)relic of an ancient building or other structure
- खंडहर (khaṇḍhar)relic of an ancient building or other structure
- अवशेष (avśeṣ)all that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
Irish conablach, taisí
- conablachwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- taisírelic of an ancient building or other structure
Italian resti, spoglie
- restiwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- spogliewhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- reliquiawhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- rovinerelic of an ancient building or other structure
- avanziall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
- rimasugliall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
- racimoliall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
- restiall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
Japanese 遺体
- 遺体 (itai)what is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
Latin reliquiae
- reliquiaewhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
Norwegian Bokmål levning, rester
- levningwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- resterrelic of an ancient building or other structure
- resterall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
Polish szczątki, zwłoki
- szczątkiwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- zwłokiwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- pozostałościrelic of an ancient building or other structure
- ruinyrelic of an ancient building or other structure
- zgliszczarelic of an ancient building or other structure
- resztkiall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
Portuguese restos, ruína
- restoswhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- ruínarelic of an ancient building or other structure
- restoall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
Russian оста́тки, оста́нки
- оста́тки (ostátki)what is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- оста́нки (ostánki)what is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- разва́лины (razváliny)relic of an ancient building or other structure
- руи́ны (ruíny)relic of an ancient building or other structure
- оста́тки (ostátki)all that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
Spanish restos
- restoswhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
Swahili mabaki, saliyo
- mabakiwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- saliyorelic of an ancient building or other structure
- mabakiall that is left of the stock of some things; remnants
Swedish kvarlevor, stoft
- kvarlevorwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
- stoftwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
Tagalog labi
- labiwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
Turkish ceset kalıntısı
- ceset kalıntısıwhat is left after a person (or any organism) dies; a corpse
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with remains
gainsplainslanesgrainsbrainspainsmainsKeynesrainsstainsHainescanesDanesreinspanesmanescremainsplum rains
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
remains. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/remains
MLA
“remains.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/remains. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “remains,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/remains.
Source: remains on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.