adj.
Pronunciation: är- ' k ā -ik
Function: adjective
Etymology: French or Greek; French archaïque, from Greek archaïkos, from archaios
Date: 1832
1 : having the characteristics of the language of the past and surviving chiefly in specialized uses <an archaic word>
2 : of, relating to, or characteristic of an earlier or more primitive time : ANTIQUATED < archaic legal traditions>
3 capitalized : of or belonging to the early or formative phases of a culture or a period of artistic development especially : of or belonging to the period leading up to the classical period of Greek culture
4 : surviving from an earlier period specifically : typical of a previously dominant evolutionary stage
5 capitalized : of or relating to the period from about 8000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. and the North American cultures of that time
synonyms see OLD
– ar · cha · i · cal · ly \ -i-k( ə -)l ē \ adverb