remainder

remainder [ri mān′dər]

n.

[ME remaindre < Anglo-Fr substantive use of OFr inf.: see REMAIN]

1. those remaining

2. what is left when a part is taken away; the rest

3. a copy or number of copies of a book still held by a publisher when the sale has fallen off, usually disposed of at a greatly reduced price

4. Law an estate of expectancy but not in possession, as when land is conveyed by the same deed to one person while alive and at death to another and that person's heirs

5. Math.

a) what is left when a smaller number is subtracted from a larger

b) what is left undivided when one number is divided by another that is not one of its factors

adj.

Rare remaining; leftover

vt.

to sell (books, etc.) as remainders

SYN.- REMAINDER is the general word applied to what is left when a part is taken away [the remainder of a meal, one's life, etc. ]; RESIDUE and RESIDUUM apply to what remains at the end of a process, as after the evaporation or combustion of matter or after the settlement of claims, etc. in a testator's estate; REMNANT is applied to a fragment, trace, or any small part left after the greater part has been removed [remnants of cloth from the ends of bolts ]; BALANCE may be used in place of REMAINDER, but in strict use it implies the amount remaining on the credit or debit side