arrear

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English arere, from Old French arere, from Vulgar Latin *ad retro (literally “to the rear”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /əˈɹɪə/ (General American) IPA(key): /əˈɹɪɹ/ Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ) === Adverb === arrear (comparative more arrear, superlative most arrear) (obsolete) Towards the rear, backwards. [14th–16th c.] (obsolete) Behind time; overdue. [15th–19th c.] === Noun === arrear (plural arrears) Work to be done, obligation. November 4, 1866, James David Forbes, letter to E. C. Batten I have a large arrear of letters to write. Unpaid debt. That which is in the rear or behind. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== == Portuguese == === Etymology === Possibly from a Vulgar Latin *arredāre (“arrange, provide”), from Gothic *𐍂𐌴𐌸𐍃 (*rēþs, “advice”). === Pronunciation === Homophone: arriar (Portugal) Hyphenation: ar‧re‧ar === Verb === arrear (first-person singular present arreio, first-person singular preterite arreei, past participle arreado) (transitive) to harness (to place a harness on something) Synonym: aparelhar ==== Conjugation ==== ==== Derived terms ==== arreio === Further reading === Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1983–1991), “arrear”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎[2] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos “arrear”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026 “arrear”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 == Spanish == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /areˈaɾ/ [a.reˈaɾ] Rhymes: -aɾ Syllabification: a‧rre‧ar === Etymology 1 === From arre + -ar. ==== Verb ==== arrear (first-person singular present arreo, first-person singular preterite arreé, past participle arreado) to drive, herd (livestock) to capture, take (by force) to urge ===== Conjugation ===== ==== Alternative forms ==== === Etymology 2 === Possibly from a Vulgar Latin *arredāre (“arrange, provide”), from Gothic *𐍂𐌴𐌸𐍃 (*rēþs, “advice”). Cognate with English array. ==== Verb ==== arrear (first-person singular present arreo, first-person singular preterite arreé, past participle arreado) to harness ===== Conjugation ===== === References === === Further reading === “arrear”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025