arch

Arch, a curved structure, is from Old French arche, from Latin arcus; arch, chief or roguish, is the prefix arch- used as a word.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɑɹt͡ʃ/; /ɑːt͡ʃ/ (UK)^[4]

arch¹ curve

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English arche, borrowed from Old French arche (“arch of a bridge, arcade”),^[1][2][3] from Gallo-Romance *arca, a feminine form from the neuter plural of Latin arcus, a bow, arch (see arc, arrow).^[1][2][5] It is a doublet of arc.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A curved structure in a building or bridge: about 1300.^[1][2]

Semantic evolution

It largely replaced the native bow in this sense.^[2] Originally architectural, it was transferred by the early 15th century to anything curved, such as eyebrows or feet,^[2] and the OED records a curved form in general from about 1590 and the rainbow from 1610.^[6] An arched roof or vault, and figuratively the heavens, is from 1606.^[6] The arch of the foot is from 1858.^[6] The verb, to provide with an arch, is from about 1400, and to form an arch from the early 14th century.^[1][2] The Court of Arches in London was held in the church of St Mary-le-Bow, named for the arches that supported its steeple.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – a curved structure.^[1]
• early 14th century – to form an arch (verb).^[2]
• early 15th century – any curve.^[2]
• 1610 – the rainbow.^[6]
• 1858 – the arch of the foot.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A curved structure spanning an opening and supporting the weight above it, as in a bridge or doorway.
2. A monument or gateway in the form of an arch.
3. A curved shape or structure, especially of the foot.

Verb

1. To form or bend into an arch.
2. To provide with an arch, or to span.

Word family

• archway
• arched

arch² chief, roguish

Etymology

It is the prefix arch- used as a separate word,^[1][2][3] a prefix attested from late Old English in words such as archangel and archbishop,^[2] from Ancient Greek ἀρχι- (arkhi-), chief.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chief, principal, as in arch rebel: 1547, the 1540s in Etymonline.^[1][2][5]

Semantic evolution

The prefix figured in so many derogatory uses, such as arch-rogue and arch-knave, that by the mid-17th century the word had come to mean roguish, mischievous, first recorded in 1662,^[2][1][3] softened by the 19th century to saucy.^[2] The shift shows in Middle English archwife, defined both as a wife of a superior order and as a domineering woman.^[2] Archly and archness are derivatives.^[2]

Timeline

• 1547 – chief.^[1]
• 1662 – mischievous.^[1]
• 19th century – saucy.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Playfully mischievous or teasing; roguish.
2. (rare) Chief or principal.

Word family

• archly
• archness

Related words

• arc
• arcade
• archer
• arch-

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press