Added 9 October 2026
archaic
/ɑːˈkeɪ.ɪk/ noun
In Latin: archaicus Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about archaic at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- The prehistoric period intermediate between the earliest period (‘Paleo-Indian’, ‘Paleo-American’, ‘American‐paleolithic’, etc.) of human presence in the Western Hemisphere, and the most recent prehistoric period (‘Woodland’, etc.).
adjective
- Of or characterized by antiquity; old-fashioned, quaint, antiquated.
- No longer in ordinary use, though still used occasionally to give a sense of antiquity and still likely to be understood by well-educated speakers and are found in historical texts.
- Belonging to the archaic period.
Origin
From archaism (“ancient or obsolete phrase or expression”) or from French archaïque, ultimately from Ancient Greek ἀρχαϊκός (arkhaïkós, “old-fashioned”), from ἀρχαῖος (arkhaîos, “from the beginning, antiquated, ancient, old”), from ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “beginning, origin”), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “to be first”), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “to begin”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin, rule, command”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)