words nearly obsolete

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

These words are nearly obsolete, but we still recognize them because they were lucky enough to get stuck in phrases that have lasted across the centuries.

12 Old Words That Survived by Getting Fossilized in Idioms

mentalfloss.com

These words are nearly obsolete, but we still recognize them because they were lucky enough to get stuck in phrases that have lasted across the centuries.