archaic

[ ahr-key-ik ]

adjective

1. marked by the characteristics of an earlier period; antiquated:

   an archaic manner; an archaic notion.

2. (of a linguistic form) commonly used in an earlier time but rare in present-day usage except to suggest the older time, as in religious rituals or historical novels. Examples:

   thou; wast; methinks; forsooth.

3. forming the earliest stage; prior to full development:

   the archaic period of psychoanalytic research.

4. (often initial capital letter) pertaining to or designating the style of the fine arts, especially painting and sculpture, developed in Greece from the middle 7th to the early 5th century b.c., chiefly characterized by an increased emphasis on the human figure in action, naturalistic proportions and anatomical structure, simplicity of volumes, forms, or design, and the evolution of a definitive style for the narrative treatment of subject matter. Compare classical ( def 6 ), Hellenistic ( def 5 ).
5. primitive; ancient; old:

   an archaic form of animal life.

archaic

/ ɑːˈkeɪɪk /

adjective

1. belonging to or characteristic of a much earlier period; ancient
2. out of date; antiquated

   an archaic prison system

3. (of idiom, vocabulary, etc) characteristic of an earlier period of a language and not in ordinary use

Usage Note

Archaic is used as a label in this dictionary for terms and definitions that were current roughly as late as 1900 but are now employed only as conscious archaisms, as described and exemplified in definition 2 above. An archaic term is generally more recognizable, as when encountered in literature, than one labeled Obsolete.

Derived Forms

• arˈchaically, adverb

Other Words From

• ar·chai·cal·ly adverb
• pseudo·ar·chaic adjective
• pseudo·ar·chai·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of archaic¹

First recorded in 1825–35; from French archaïque, or directly from Greek archaïkós “antiquated, old-fashioned,” equivalent to archaî(os) “old” + -ikos adjective suffix; -ic

Word History and Origins

Origin of archaic¹

C19: from French archaïque, from Greek arkhaïkos, from arkhaios ancient, from arkhē beginning, from arkhein to begin

Example Sentences

That’s led to the assumption that there are millions of these archaic animals crisscrossing the deeps in front of coral reefs.

From Nautilus

These discoveries pose new questions regarding the nature of our interaction with other archaic human species.

From Nautilus

It used to mean something “alien” or “foreign,” and though this is an archaic definition, it’s part of the word’s legacy.

From Washington Post

Obviously, the researchers who did the phylogenetic analysis know what they’re saying when they assert that this species mixes modern and archaic features, but physical characteristics are less informative of a lineage’s relationships than DNA is.

From Nautilus

The jaw too displays archaic features, but also includes forms commonly seen in Neanderthals.

From Singularity Hub 

There are some pretty archaic, long-held biases and prejudices that remain in place (see Mets, New York).

From The Daily Beast

While he enjoyed the experience once in the air, he found the process of booking the flight to be archaic and obscure.

From The Daily Beast

Too many shows meet their demise way early because of an archaic way of counting.

From The Daily Beast

There was one daunting, archaic elevator, and a flight of stairs with no lights.

From The Daily Beast

The counterargument, of course, is that this method of delivery is pretty archaic.

From The Daily Beast

Spacing after punctuation standardized, inconsistent hyphenation and archaic spelling retained.

From Project Gutenberg

The following archaic spellings of words were used in the original book and have been retained: head-ach; concuring; delinated.

From Project Gutenberg

He even brushed up his archaic French for the sake of inquiring directly after the child's health from Fanchette.

From Project Gutenberg

In English archaic writings the instances in which the mention of the Satanic power is thus utilised are not numerous.

From Project Gutenberg

Neither are we able to support the contention that it takes its rise in the archaic “woundy,” which perished in the same fires.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ancient
• antiquated
• obsolete
• old-fashioned
• outmoded
• primitive