a. and sb. rare. [f. VESTIGE + -IAN.] a. adj. Of or pertaining to, or designating, the theory of evolution propounded by R. Chambers in his Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation (1844). b. sb. One who agrees with or supports this work or theory.
1860. Darwin, in Life & Lett. (1887), II. 295. The case would be a decided difficulty on the Lamarckian or Vestigian doctrine of necessary progression.
1891. Tablet, 12 Sept., 414. Men who had never been known to read a scientific book in their lives, were found poring over it, and taking sides as Vestigians and anti-Vestigians.
