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arch

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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
  • 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