reliquary

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from Middle French reliquaire (modern French reliquaire), from Late Latin reliquiarium, from rēliquia (“a relic”) (English relic), noun use of reliquus (“abandoned, left behind, relict”), from relinquō (“to relinquish”), from re- (“again”) and linquō (“to leave”), from Proto-Indo-European *leikʷ-.

1. A container to hold or display religious relics.

   ““… There is an ivory virgin of the fourteenth century. I once found a buyer for that piece, but the old boy would not sell it.[…]The other piece—the one that concerns us—is known as the Borgia reliquary.””

   “And whether you think of those little cans as intellectual puzzles or reliquaries or scams, there are surprises inside.”

2. An object that sustains the memory of past people or events.
3. A person who owes a balance.