Etymologically
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arrogant

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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈæɹəɡənt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English arrogaunt,[2] borrowed from Old French arrogant, and partly directly borrowed from Latin arrogāns (“insolent, overbearing, conceited”),[3][4][5][6] the present participle of arrogō (“to claim for oneself”),[4][2][7][8] the source of arrogate.[2][9] The Latin verb is formed from ad (“to”) and rogō (“to ask, entreat”),[4][8] as in interrogate;[8] Etymonline takes the verb as a figurative use of a word meaning "to stretch out the hand", from Proto-Indo-European *reg- (“to move in a straight line”).[4] The adjective is recorded in Old French from the 13th century,[3] and Old Occitan and Spanish have it too.[3] Johnson derived it straight from Latin.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, having too high an opinion of their own importance or abilities: the OED's first quotation is from Chaucer's Parson's Tale, in a manuscript of about 1405.[3] Etymonline dates the word to the late 14th century,[4] and Dictionary.com to 1350–1400.[11]

Semantic evolution

Etymologically, according to Ayto, to be arrogant is to make great claims about oneself; the Latin participle already meant "overbearing".[8] The use for an act, remark or assumption that shows arrogance follows in Bokenham's saints' lives (before 1460),[3] and the noun, an arrogant person, in Caxton (1489).[3] Johnson (1755) defined the word as "given to make exorbitant claims; haughty; proud".[10] In Surrey dialect it could mean fierce or savage, of an animal.[12]

Timeline

  • c. 1405 – of a person, presumptuous, haughty.[3]
  • a1460 – of an act or remark, showing arrogance.[3]
  • 1489 – noun, an arrogant person.[3]
  • 1755 – Johnson: "given to make exorbitant claims".[10]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Having an inflated sense of one's own importance or abilities and showing it in an overbearing, haughty way: The arrogant manager never listened to anyone.
  2. Showing or coming from such an attitude: an arrogant reply.
  3. (dialect, Surrey) Of an animal, fierce, savage.

Word family

  • arrogantly
  • superarrogant
  • unarrogant

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)