English

Etymology
Ancient Greek α��αικ�� (archaikos) "old-fashioned", from α��αίο� (archaios) "from the beginning, antiquated, ancient, old", from α��ή (archê) "beginning, origin, at first, anew, afresh", from ά��� (archô) "to be first".

Adjective
archaic (more archaic, most archaic)

1. of or characterized by antiquity or archaism, antiquated, primitive, old-fashioned, as an archaic word or phrase

#* 1848: w:James Russel Lowell|James Russel Lowell, The Biglow Papers - A person familiar with the dialect of certain portions of Massachusetts will not fail to recognize, in ordinary discourse, many words now noted in English vocabularies as archaic, the greater part of which were in common use about the time of the King James translation of the Bible. Shakespeare stands less in need of a glossary to most New Englanders than to many a native of the Old Country.
#* 1887: w:Barcley V. Head|Barcley V. Head, Historia Numorum A Manual Of Greek Numismatics - There is in the best archaic coin work [of the Greeks] ... a strength and a delicacy which are often wanting in the fully developed art of a later age.

1. context|of words or language style no longer in ordinary use, though still used occasionally to give a sense of antiquity. See talk page.

#: 1898 Brann's compass of words, idioms and phrases harks back to the archaic and reaches forward to the futuristic.� William Cowper Brann, The Complete Works of Brann the Iconoclast, Volume 1.

Derived terms
archaically

Related terms
archeabacteria
archaeologist
archaeology
archaism

Icelandic: gamaldags
Italian: arcaico m, arcaica f
trans-mid
Latin: archaicus m, archaica f
Japanese: ��
Portuguese: arcaico m, arcaica f
Russian: а��аи�н�й m, а��аи�на� f, а��аи�ное n
Slovene: arhai�ni m, arhai�na f, arhai�no n
Spanish: arcaico m, arcaica f
Swedish: arkaisk, ålderdomlig
Turkish: antik
trans-bottom

References
R:Webster 1913
R:Century 1914
R:Oxford 1998

Category:Greek derivations

fr:archaic
ko:archaic
io:archaic
pl:archaic
ru:archaic
fi:archaic
vi:archaic
tr:archaic

• 2007-12-06 09:05 - AutoFormat - gender -''m/f'' +{{m|f}}

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