Meanings
plural archaisms · alternative archaicism · alternative dated hypercorrect archæism · alternative dated hypercorrect rare archaeism
- countableuncountableThe adoption or imitation of archaic words or style.
- countableuncountableAn archaic word, style, etc.
In this text, the word "methinks" appears to be a deliberate archaism.
1 more example
He had the fastidiousness, the preciosity, the love of archaisms, of your true decadent.
1902, Robert Langton Douglas, A History of Siena
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂ergʰ-“to begin, rule, command”
- Ancient Greekἀρχαϊσμός“an antiquated phrase or style”
- New Latinarchaismus
- Englisharchaism
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”).
More words from New Latin, Ancient Greek, Proto-Indo-European
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans argaïsme
- argaïsmearchaic word, language
Ancient Greek ἀρχαϊσμός
- ἀρχαϊσμός (arkhaïsmós)archaic word, language
Bulgarian архаи́зъм
- архаи́зъм (arhaízăm)archaic word, language
Catalan arcaisme
- arcaismearchaic word, language
Chinese Mandarin 古詞 /古词, 古語 /古语
- 古詞 /古词 (gǔcí)archaic word, language
- 古語 /古语 (gǔyǔ)archaic word, language
Czech archaismus
- archaismusarchaic word, language
Danish arkaisme
- arkaismearchaic word, language
Dutch archaïsme
- archaïsmearchaic word, language
Esperanto arĥaismo, arkaismo
- arĥaismoarchaic word, language
- arkaismoarchaic word, language
Estonian arhaism
- arhaismarchaic word, language
Finnish arkaismi
- arkaismiarchaic word, language
French archaïsme
- archaïsmearchaic word, language
German Archaismus
- Archaismusarchaic word, language
Greek αρχαιοπρέπεια
- αρχαιοπρέπεια (archaioprépeia)archaic word, language
Hungarian archaizmus
- archaizmusarchaic word, language
Indonesian arkaisme
- arkaismearchaic word, language
Irish ársaíocht
- ársaíochtarchaic word, language
Italian arcaismo
- arcaismoarchaic word, language
Japanese 古語, アルカイズム
- 古語 (kogo)archaic word, language
- アルカイズム (arukaizumu)archaic word, language
- アーケイズム (ākeizumu)archaic word, language
Korean 의고체, 고문체
- 의고체 (uigoche)archaic word, language
- 고문체 (gomunche)archaic word, language
- 고어 (go'eo)archaic word, language
Latvian arhaisms
- arhaismsarchaic word, language
Lithuanian archaizmas
- archaizmasarchaic word, language
Norwegian Bokmål arkaisme
- arkaismearchaic word, language
Persian باستانگرایی
- باستانگرایی (bâstân-garâyi)archaic word, language
Polish archaizm
- archaizmarchaic word, language
Portuguese arcaísmo
- arcaísmoarchaic word, language
Romanian arhaism, cuvânt învechit
- arhaismarchaic word, language
- cuvânt învechitarchaic word, language
Russian архаи́зм
- архаи́зм (arxaízm)archaic word, language
Slovak archaizmus
- archaizmusarchaic word, language
Spanish arcaísmo
- arcaísmoarchaic word, language
Swedish arkaism
- arkaismarchaic word, language
Turkish arkaizm
- arkaizmarchaic word, language
Ukrainian архаї́зм
- архаї́зм (arxajízm)archaic word, language
Vietnamese từ cổ, cổ ngữ
- từ cổarchaic word, language
- cổ ngữarchaic word, language
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
archaism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archaism
“archaism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archaism. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “archaism,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/archaism.
Source: archaism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.