arson
[ahr-suh n]
- 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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Origin of arson
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for arson
Contemporary Examples
Klansmen were implicated in the arson of 30 black churches in Mississippi.
In the late 1940s, he writes, there was “one racially motivated bombing or arson” every twenty days.
Zeffirelli's film was awful and creepy and over the top in all the right ways: arson, chases, death, prison, Tom Cruise.
It's a good day to remember Rodney Hulin, a physically slight teenager who was serving time for arson in a Texas prison.
But no one went through with the arson threats that were bandied about back then, says Cummins.
Historical Examples
Well, I may tell you that I have a warrant to arrest him on a charge of arson.
The Hunted OutlawAnonymous
At Courbesseaux arson and pillage were also committed on the 5th of September.
Current History, A Monthly MagazineNew York Times
You're not going ashore into this hades of riot and arson, are you?
Uncle Sam's Boys as LieutenantsH. Irving Hancock
Grave suspicions of arson are entertained, but up to the present no arrest has been made.
The FreelandsJohn Galsworthy
Arson was arson; a man in prison more or less was a man in prison more or less!
The FreelandsJohn Galsworthy
arson
- 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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Word Origin
C17: from Old French, from Medieval Latin ārsiō, from Latin ārdēre to burn; see ardent
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for arson
n.
1670s, from Anglo-French arsoun (late 13c.), Old French arsion, from Late Latin arsionem (nominative arsio) "a burning," noun of action from past participle stem of Latin ardere "to burn," from PIE root *as- "to burn, glow" (see ash (n.1)). The Old English term was bærnet, literally "burning;" and Coke has indictment of burning (1640).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper