residue Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun matter that remains after something has been removed
  2. noun something left after other parts have been taken away
    residuum; residual; rest; balance; remainder.
    • there was no remainder
    • he threw away the rest
    • he took what he wanted and I got the balance

WordNet

Res"i*due noun
Etymology
F. résidu, L. residuum, fr. residuus that is left behind, remaining, fr. residere to remain behind. See Reside, and cf. Residuum.
Definitions
  1. That which remains after a part is taken, separated, removed, or designated; remnant; remainder.
    The residue of them will I deliver to the sword. Jer. xv. 9.
    If church power had then prevailed over its victims, not a residue of English liberty would have been saved. I. Taylor.
  2. (Law) That part of a testeator's estate wwhich is not disposed of in his will by particular and special legacies and devises, and which remains after payment of debts and legacies.
  3. (Chem.) That which remains of a molecule after the removal of a portion of its constituents; hence, an atom or group regarded as a portion of a molecule; -- used as nearly equivalent to radical, but in a more general sense. also moiety ✍ The term radical is sometimes restricted to groups containing carbon, the term residue being applied to the others.
  4. (Theory of Numbers) Any positive or negative number that differs from a given number by a multiple of a given modulus; thus, if 7 is the modulus, and 9 the given number, the numbers -5, 2, 16, 23, etc., are residues. Syn. -- Rest; remainder; remnant; balance; residuum; remains; leavings; relics.

Webster 1913