to come to a certain point in the course of travel; reach one's destination.
He finally arrived in Rome.
to come to be near or present in time.
The moment to act has arrived.
to attain a position of success, power, achievement, fame, or the like.
After years of hard work, she has finally arrived in her field.
Archaic. to happen.
It arrived that the master had already departed.
to come to a certain place during or after a journey; reach a destination
(foll by at) to agree upon; reach
to arrive at a decision
to occur eventually
the moment arrived when pretence was useless
informal (of a baby) to be born
informal to attain success or gain recognition
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English a(r)riven, from Old French a(r)river, from Vulgar Latin arrīpāre (unrecorded) “to come to land,” verb derivative of Latin ad rīpam “to the riverbank”; cf. river 1
First recorded in 1920–25; from French: literally, “arrived,” noun use of past participle of arriver “to arrive”; see arrive
To arrive is to come to a destination. When you arrive in Paris, the first thing you should do is go and buy a croissant. The word arrive generally means to come to a physical destination, like a place. Make sure you arrive home on time for dinner! But it can also be less literal. You can arrive at a conclusion or a decision after much thought. You can also use arrive to mean "achieve great success," though for whatever reason, this specific usage tends to be in the past tense. If you serve champagne and caviar at a party, your snobby aunt might comment, "My dear, you’ve arrived!” In this case, arrive means to come to a place of great wealth or success.
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Arrive early to enjoy the spa facilities, particularly the hydrotherapy pool and lounge spaces, which are worth lingering in before your appointment begins.
From Salon • Jun. 11, 2026
Arrive at the bullet train station near the area where Ohtani grew up and you are greeted by metal wind chimes engraved with messages of support and a small glass-enclosed exhibit featuring signed memorabilia.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 29, 2024
Services like Arrive Outdoors and OutdoorsGeek allow occasional campers to rent gear.
From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2023
Arrive with a homemade pie, give a lasagna so that your sister/brother/parents/friends get an easy night at home; make gifts less ostentatious and more practical and meaningful.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 26, 2022
He turns up in Toronto to give a lecture, at a conference, notifying me in advance with a postcard of a statue of Paul Revere, from Boston: Arrive Sun. 12th.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
