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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Oh, and it’s graduation season, which means hundreds of teenagers will arrive right after their high-school commencement ceremonies for Project Grad, an alcohol-free night at the mall.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 18, 2026
Men, women and children are forced into a few tents during the chilly winter nights as they wait for buses to arrive.
From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026
For the last three weeks, pupils at Thomas Hardye School in Dorchester, Dorset, have been putting their phones in lockable pouches when they arrive at school.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
Picture this: You arrive two hours before the gates open, like the responsible citizen you are.
From Slate • Jun. 16, 2026
When they arrive at Tala Leprosarium, Joey studies the crowded, run-down cabins where she will be forced to live.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
