archaic

== English == === Alternative forms === archaeic, archæic (hypercorrect, archaic) archaïc (archaic) archaick (obsolete) === Etymology === From archaism (“ancient or obsolete phrase or expression”) or from French archaïque, ultimately from Ancient Greek ἀρχαϊκός (arkhaïkós, “old-fashioned”), from ἀρχαῖος (arkhaîos, “from the beginning, antiquated, ancient, old”), from ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “beginning, origin”), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “to be first”), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “to begin”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin, rule, command”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ɑːˈkeɪ.ɪk/ (General American) IPA(key): /ɑɹˈkeɪ.ɪk/ (General Australian) IPA(key): /ɐːˈkæɪ.ɪk/ (Indic) IPA(key): /ɑ(r).ke.jɪk/ Hyphenation: ar‧cha‧ic === Noun === archaic (plural archaics) (archaeology, US, usually capitalized) The prehistoric period intermediate between the earliest period (‘Paleo-Indian’, ‘Paleo-American’, ‘American‐paleolithic’, etc.) of human presence in the Western Hemisphere, and the most recent prehistoric period (‘Woodland’, etc.). 1958, Wiley, Gordon R., and Philip Phillips, Method and Theory in American Archaeology, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, page #107: [...] Archaic Stage [...] the stage of migratory hunting and gathering cultures continuing into environmental conditions approximately those of the present. (paleoanthropology) (A member of) an archaic variety of Homo sapiens. === Adjective === archaic (comparative more archaic, superlative most archaic) Of or characterized by antiquity; old-fashioned, quaint, antiquated. (chiefly lexicography, of words) No longer in ordinary use, though still used occasionally to give a sense of antiquity and are still likely to be understood by well-educated speakers and are found in historical texts. (archaeology) Belonging to the archaic period. ==== Usage notes ==== Although sense 2 pertains to words, when the word archaic is used by non-lexicographers to describe a word or its usage, it is likely meant in the more general sense 1. Some dictionaries mark words that are archaic in this sense with a term such as dated or old-fashioned (the exact terminology varies). When a dictionary describes a word as archaic, it is meant in the more specific sense 2 (see also Wiktionary:Obsolete_and_archaic_terms#Classifications_of_old_words). ==== Synonyms ==== (old-fashioned): dated, obsolete, old fashioned; see also Thesaurus:obsolete ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === “archaic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914), “archaic”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, revised edition, volumes I (A–C), New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford University Press, 1998 === Anagrams === arachic