archaic
Americanadjective
-
marked by the characteristics of an earlier period; antiquated.
an archaic manner; an archaic notion.
-
(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.
-
forming the earliest stage; prior to full development.
the archaic period of psychoanalytic research.
-
(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.
-
primitive; ancient; old.
an archaic form of animal life.
adjective
-
belonging to or characteristic of a much earlier period; ancient
-
out of date; antiquated
an archaic prison system
-
(of idiom, vocabulary, etc) characteristic of an earlier period of a language and not in ordinary use
Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
- archaically adverb
- pseudoarchaic adjective
- pseudoarchaically adverb
Etymology
Origin of archaic
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
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It felt like there was something arch, ironic and archaic even for its own era.
Despite the archaic language, it has the simplicity of a sea shanty.
The rebuilt face looks more archaic than many scientists expected, offering fresh clues about one of the first human species to expand across Africa and Eurasia.
From Science Daily
Treasuries market, and archaic laws that require mailed paper notices.
From Barron's
California passed its new law in response to the 9th Circuit ruling last year, which held that state law at the time required it to apply an archaic Spanish law.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
