archaism
UK /ˈɑː.keɪ.ɪz.əm/ · US /ˈɑɹ.kiˌɪz.əm/ noun
Forms archaisms archaicism archæism archaeism
- noun The adoption or imitation of archaic words or style.
- noun An archaic word, style, etc. “In this text, the word "methinks" appears to be a deliberate archaism.”
Synonyms
Etymology
17th century, from New Latin archaismus, from Ancient Greek ἀρχαϊσμός (arkhaïsmós, “an antiquated phrase or style”), from ἀρχαίζω (arkhaízō, “to model one's style upon that of ancient writers”), from ἀρχαῖος (arkhaîos, “old, ancient”), from ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “beginning”), from ἄρχω (árkhō, “I begin”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ergʰ- (“to begin, rule, command”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun An ancient, antiquated, or old-fashioned, word, expression, or idiom; a word or form of speech no longer in common use.
- noun Antiquity of style or use; obsoleteness.
Etymology [Gr. archaïsme. See Arch, a.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “archaism”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details