archaic

Archaic is an adjective used to describe things that belong to an earlier time or stage in development. It is commonly applied to language, customs, art, and artifacts that are no longer current but are studied for historical context. In everyday use, archaic can imply outdatedness, but in scholarly writing it serves as a neutral descriptor of a past form or style.

In linguistics, archaic forms are features that have fallen from standard use. They may be retained in religious texts, poetry, or historical narratives to evoke a past era. Examples include pronouns such as thou and thee, verb endings like -est and -eth, and vocabulary such as yclept or whilom.

In archaeology and cultural history, archaic can designate an early phase of a culture's development. For example, Archaic Greece refers roughly to the period from the late 8th to the early 5th century BCE, and the term is used similarly for earlier or foundational stages in other regions.

Etymology: archaic comes from Greek archaios meaning ancient, from archē meaning beginning or origin, and entered English through Latin and French.

See also: obsolete, extinct, classical, antiquarian, ancient.