Pseudofossil

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any object, marking or impression that resembles a fossil but whose origin is non-biological.

    "F illustrates unicellular forms preserved in fine-grained carbonate; it is uncertain whether these are actual microfossils or pseudofossils formed during crystallisation of the carbonate.[…]L-N appear to be charcoal-like pseudofossils."

Example

More examples

"F illustrates unicellular forms preserved in fine-grained carbonate; it is uncertain whether these are actual microfossils or pseudofossils formed during crystallisation of the carbonate.[…]L-N appear to be charcoal-like pseudofossils."

Etymology

From pseudo- + fossil.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.