arsehole

Etymology

It is formed from English arse + hole.^[2][3][4] The first part is from Old English ærs (“buttocks, tail, rump”),^[3][5] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *ors- (“buttock, backside”).^[3] Old English glossed Latin anus with Old English earsðerl, literally "arse-thrill", whose second part is thrill in its original sense of hole, as in nostril;^[3] the OED enters it as “arse-thirl”.^[2] The American form asshole is recorded by the OED from 1865.^[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The anus: before 1400, in a Middle English translation of Lanfranc's Science of Cirurgie,^[2][7] and about the same time as arcehoole in a Latin–English vocabulary, glossing Latin podex.^[4][3]

Semantic evolution

For centuries the word kept its anatomical sense;^[2][7] Green's Dictionary of Slang quotes it from 16th-century dictionaries and in plays, verse and jests of the 16th and 17th centuries.^[4] The figurative senses are 20th-century: an extremely unpleasant or remote place, often the arsehole of somewhere, from 1926 in a letter of H. L. Mencken, and a stupid or contemptible person from 1928 in a letter of Ernest Hemingway, at first with an adjective before it.^[2][7] The American asshole is earlier in the sense of a place (1918–19) but later in the sense of a person (1962).^[2] As an adjective, often arseholing, it has been a general term of abuse since 1943,^[4] and in Australia it has been a verb, to dismiss or get rid of someone, since 1965.^[4] The Oxford dictionaries label it British vulgar slang.^[8][9]

Timeline

• before 1400 – the anus.^[2][4]
• 1926 – an extremely unpleasant or remote place.^[2][7]
• 1928 – a stupid, irritating or contemptible person.^[2][7]
• 1943 – adjective, often arseholing, a general term of abuse.^[4]
• 1965 – Australian verb, to dismiss or get rid of someone.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The anus (vulgar).^[8][9][2][6]
2. A stupid, irritating or contemptible person (vulgar).^[8][9][2]
3. An extremely unpleasant, dismal or remote place; the worst part of a region (vulgar).^[2][7][6]

Verb

1. To dismiss or get rid of someone (Australian slang).^[4]

Related words

• arse
• hole
• asshole

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster labels arsehole British and vulgar and defines it by the American asshole;^[6] Chambers likewise gives asshole as the North American form.^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
5. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
6. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
8. ^ a b c Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap