arrive

¹ American  

[uh-rahyv] / əˈraɪv /

verb (used without object)

arrived, arriving

1. to come to a certain point in the course of travel; reach one's destination.

   He finally arrived in Rome.

2. to come to be near or present in time.

   The moment to act has arrived.

3. to attain a position of success, power, achievement, fame, or the like.

   After years of hard work, she has finally arrived in her field.

4. Archaic. to happen.

   It arrived that the master had already departed.

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verb (used with object)

arrived, arriving

1. Obsolete. to reach; come to.

verb phrase

1. arrive at

   1. to come to a place after traveling; reach.

   2. to attain the objective in a course or process.

      to arrive at a conclusion.

arrivé ² American  

[ar-ee-vey, a-ree-vey] / ˌær iˈveɪ, a riˈveɪ /

noun

plural

arrivés

1. a person who has swiftly gained wealth, status, success, or fame.

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arrive British  

/ əˈraɪv /

verb

1. to come to a certain place during or after a journey; reach a destination

2. (foll by at) to agree upon; reach

   to arrive at a decision

3. to occur eventually

   the moment arrived when pretence was useless

4. informal (of a baby) to be born

5. informal to attain success or gain recognition

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Other Word Forms

• arriver noun
• unarrived adjective
• unarriving adjective

Etymology

Origin of arrive¹

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”; river ¹

Origin of arrivé²

First recorded in 1920–25; from French: literally, “arrived,” noun use of past participle of arriver “to arrive”; arrive

Example Sentences

It took some trial and error to arrive at the 15-minute construct.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

Large-scale, highly performant systems are expected to arrive in the next few years, bringing with them transformative potential as well as new risks.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

The shipment, first reported by the Financial Times, is due to arrive on Thursday or Friday.

From BBC • Mar. 31, 2026

But it is always better to arrive at this court with Thomas already on your side.

From Slate • Mar. 30, 2026

Their urgent need was for more men, yet months would pass before American troops would arrive in Europe in numbers great enough to make a difference.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• appear
• enter
• land
• reach
• report
• show up
• take place
• turn up
• visit