Etymologically
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arrive

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əˈraɪv/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ariven, borrowed from Anglo-Norman ariver, from Old French ariver (“to come to land”) (modern French arriver),[2][3][4] from Vulgar Latin *arrīpāre (“to touch the shore”),[2][3][5] from Latin ad rīpam “to the shore”, from ad (“to”) and rīpa (“shore, bank”).[2][3] It is related to river and riparian.[3][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To bring a ship or passengers to shore: 1205 in the OED.[7] To come to land, to reach the end of a sea voyage, is from before 1200 in Barnhart, in Layamon's Brut, and about 1200 in Etymonline.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The original idea was coming ashore after a long voyage, and only gradually did the general sense “to reach a destination” develop.[2][6] Of journeys other than by sea it is from the late 14th century, about 1384 in the OED,[2][7] as is the sense “to come to a decision or state of mind”.[2] To achieve success, as in she has arrived, is a later informal sense.[8][9] Arrival is from about 1380, in Chaucer's House of Fame; its second r was added to restore what was thought to be the Latin form.[3]

Timeline

  • 1205 – to bring to shore.[7]
  • c. 1200 – to come to land.[2]
  • c. 1380 – arrival.[3]
  • c. 1384 – to reach a destination.[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To reach a place at the end of a journey.
  2. (arrive at) To reach a decision or result.
  3. Of a time or event, to come or happen.
  4. (informal) Of a baby, to be born.
  5. (informal) To become successful.

Word family

  • arriver
  • unarrived
  • unarriving

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins