Wiktionary

archaism

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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17th century, from New Latin archaismus, from Ancient Greek ἀρχαϊσμός (arkhaïsmós, “an antiquated phrase or style”), from ἀρχαίζω (arkhaízō, “to model one's style upon that of ancient writers”), from ἀρχαῖος (arkhaîos, “old, ancient”), from ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “beginning”), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “I begin”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin, rule, command”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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archaism (countable and uncountable, plural archaisms)

  1. The adoption or imitation of archaic words or style.
  2. An archaic word, style, etc.
    In this text, the word "methinks" appears to be a deliberate archaism.
    • 1902, Robert Langton Douglas, A History of Siena
      He had the fastidiousness, the preciosity, the love of archaisms, of your true decadent.

Synonyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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