2. Something kept in remembrance; a souvenir; a memento.
A relic is any object surviving from an earlier culture, especially a valuable or symbolic object.
In religion, a relic is the mortal remains of a saint and includes any object that has been in contact with the saint. Christianity was governed throughout the Middle Ages by the belief that spiritual virtue could be transmitted through relics of a person who in life was blessed with miraculous powers.
Coffins and small objects; such as, combs, jewelry, and clothing were commonly sanctified and subsequently housed in beautiful reliquary caskets or shrines.
Ecclesiastical centers with a collection of relics would be visited by large numbers of pilgrims, especially on saints' days, when the objects were put on special display and sometimes paraded.
3. Etymology: from early in the 13th century; "a body part or other object from a holy person"; from Old French relique, from Late Latin reliquiæ (pl.), "remains of a martyr"; from Latin, "remains, remnant" a noun use of the feminine plural of reliquus, "remaining, that which remains"; from re-, "back" + root of linquere, "to leave".The meaning of "remains, ruins" is from the early 14th century of Old English that used reliquias, which came directly from Latin.