Lexic.us

Definition of Archaic

1. Adjective. So extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period. "Archaic laws"

2. Adjective. Little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type. "The okapi is a short-necked primitive cousin of the giraffe"

Definition of Archaic

1. a. Of or characterized by antiquity or archaism; antiquated; obsolescent.

Definition of Archaic

1. Noun. (context: archaeology US usually capitalized) A general term for the prehistoric period intermediate between the earliest period (‘[ Paleo-Indian]’, ‘Paleo-American’, ‘American?paleolithic’, ''&c''.) of human presence in the Western Hemisphere, and the most recent prehistoric period (‘Woodland’, etc.). ¹

2. Noun. (context: paleoanthropology) (A member of) an archaic variety of ''Homo sapiens''. ¹

3. Adjective. Of or characterized by antiquity; old-fashioned, quaint, antiquated. ¹

4. Adjective. (context: of words) No longer in ordinary use, though still used occasionally to give a sense of antiquity. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Archaic

1. pertaining to an earlier time [adj]

Medical Definition of Archaic

1. Ancient; old; in jungian psychology, denoting the ancestral past of mental processes. Origin: G. Archaikos, ancient (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Archaic

archaeon archaeons archaeophyte archaeophytes archaeopteryx archaeopteryxes archaeornis archaeostomatous archaeozoic archaeozoological

archaeozoologist archaeozoologists archaeozoology archaeplastid archaeus archaic (current term) archaic-paralogical thinking archaical archaically archaicism

archaics archaio- archaiopteryx archaise archaised archaises archaising archaism archaisms archaist

Literary usage of Archaic

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Inscriptions of Kourion by Terence Bruce Mitford (1971)
"archaic AND CLASSICAL SYLLABIC INSCRIPTIONS The syllabic inscriptions of Kourion, ... Those of the archaic Period, nos. 1 to 16, range in time from the ..."

2. The Sanctuary of Athena Nike in Athens: Architectural Stages and Chronology by Ira S. Mark (1993)
"STAGE I: THE archaic SANCTUARY The present study has drawn attention to two previously unrecognized survivals from the archaic sanctuary: two joining blocks ..."

3. American Journal of Archaeology by Archaeological Institute of America (1887)
"Upon a thorough and familiar acquaintance with the archaic signs hangs the whole question of their original forms and significations. ..."

4. A General introduction to psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud (1920)
"THIRTEENTH LECTURE THE DREAM archaic Remnants and Infantilism in the ... So we called the mode of expression of the dream-work the archaic or regressive. ..."

5. A History of Greek Sculpture by Rufus Byam Richardson (1911)
"THE archaic PERIOD SECTION A, 776-540 BC SECTION B, 540-480 BC THE first part of the ... We may divide the archaic period, so far as sculpture is concerned, ..."

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