arson

American  

[ahr-suhn] / ˈɑr sən /

noun

arsons plural

1. Law. the malicious burning of another's house or property, or in some statutes, the burning of one's own house or property, as to collect insurance.

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arson British  

/ ˈɑːsən /

noun

1. criminal law the act of intentionally or recklessly setting fire to another's property or to one's own property for some improper reason

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• arsonist
  noun
• arsonous
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• arsons
  plural

Etymology

Origin of arson

First recorded in 1670–80; from Anglo-French, Old French, from Late Latin ārsiōn-, stem of ārsiō “a burn,” from ārs(us) “burned” (past participle of Latin ārd(ere) “to burn”; cf. ardent) + -iō -ion

Explanation

If you deliberately light logs on fire to roast marshmallows, you have camping skills. If you deliberately set your whole house on fire to collect the insurance money, you've committed arson. The noun arson comes from the Latin word ardere, meaning "to burn." Arson is the act of setting something on fire for a nefarious purpose, and it is, of course, illegal. If you live in a wildfire risk area, you know that sometimes wildfires are caused by natural causes like lightening, sometimes they're caused accidentally by carelessness, and sadly they're sometimes caused by a deliberate act of arson.

Example Sentences

Meanwhile, a team from the fire service's Arson Investigation Unit, working alongside local police officers, has launched an investigation into what caused the fires.

From BBC • Jun. 23, 2025

Later in the day, the Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that its own Arson Explosives Detail was investigating, with assistance from the FBI.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 13, 2024

Arson played “Presha” by 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne, a standout of the trap subgenre, on the second night of Jivebiscuit at Stone Mountain Skates in Stone Mountain, Ga., the Atlanta-style skaters took their cue.

From New York Times • May 2, 2024

The San Diego Metro Arson Strike Team assisted with the retrieval and seizure of the explosives from the family’s house.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2024

In the afternoon, one Coge Arson Ali came aboard, and presented me with several goats, a large supply of bread, roast-meat, plantains, sugar, and other such things.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 09 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Kerr, Robert

Related Words

• torching