Arch, ärch, adj. cunning: waggish: roguish: shrewd, now mostly of women and children.—adv. Arch′ly.—n. Arch′ness. [Derived from the prefix arch-, in its use in words like arch-rogue, &c.]
Arch, ärch (ärk in archangel), adj. used as a prefix, now chiefly as an intensive in an odious sense: the first or chief.—ns. Arch′-en′emy, a chief enemy: Satan—also Arch′-foe; Arch′-fiend, the supreme fiend: Satan; Arch′-flā′men, a chief flamen or priest; Arch-he′resy; Arch′-he′retic, a leader of heresy; Arch′-mock′ (Shak.), the height of mockery; Arch′-pī′rate, a chief pirate; Arch′-pō′et, a chief poet: (obs.) a poet-laureate; Arch′-prel′ate, a chief prelate; Arch′-priest′, a chief priest: in early times, a kind of vicar to the bishop—later, a rural dean: the title given to the superiors appointed by the Pope to govern the secular priests sent into England from the foreign seminaries during the period 1598-1621; Arch′-trait′or, a chief traitor, sometimes applied esp. to the devil, or to Judas. [A.S. arce, ærce, through L. from Gr. archi, cog. with arch-ein, to begin.]
Archæology, ärk-e-ol′oj-i, n. a knowledge of ancient art, customs, &c.: the science which deduces a knowledge of past times from the study of their existing remains.—adj. Archæolog′ical.—adv. Archæolog′ically.—n. Archæol′ogist. [Gr. archaios, ancient—archē, beginning, and logos, discourse.]
Archæopteryx, ār-kē-op′tėr-iks, n. the oldest known fossil bird, found in the Jurassic limestone of Bavaria, having a long bony tail of twenty vertebræ. [Gr. archaios, ancient, pteryx, wing.]
Archaic, -al, ärk-ā′ik, -al, adj. ancient: obsolete, esp. of language.—adj. Archæan (ärk-ē′an), of or belonging to the earliest zoological period.—n. Archæog′raphy.—adj. Archæozō′ic. (Gr. zōē, life), pertaining to the era of the earliest living beings on the earth.—adv. Archā′ically.—n. Archā′icism.—v.t. Ar′chāise, to imitate the archaic.—ns. Archā′ism, an archaic or obsolete word or phrase; Archā′ist (Mrs Browning).—adj. Archāis′tic, affectedly or imitatively archaic. [Gr. archaikos—archaios, ancient—archē, beginning.]
Archangel, ärk-ān′jel, n. an angel of the highest order.—adj. Archangel′ic. [Arch, chief, and Angel.]
Archbishop, ärch-bish′up, n. a chief bishop: a metropolitan bishop who superintends the conduct of the suffragan bishops in his province, and also exercises episcopal authority in his own diocese.—n. Archbish′opric. [Arch, chief, and Bishop.]
Archdeacon, ärch-dē′kn, n. a chief deacon: the ecclesiastical dignitary having the chief supervision of a diocese or part of it, next under the bishop—the 'bishop's eye.'—ns. Archdeac′onry, the office, jurisdiction, or residence of an archdeacon; Archdeac′onship, the office of an archdeacon.—adj. Archidīac′onal.—n. Archidīac′onate. [Arch, chief, and Deacon.]
Archdiocese, ärch-dī′o-sēz, n. the diocese of an archbishop. [Arch, chief, and Diocese.]
Archduke, ärch-dūk′, n. a duke of specially exalted rank: a prince of Austria:—fem. Archduch′ess.—adj. Archdū′cal.—ns. Archduch′y, Archduke′dom, the territory of an archduke or archduchess. [Arch, chief, and Duke.]