different between archaic vs conventional

English

Alternative forms

• archæic (old-fashioned)
• archaeic (rare or old-fashioned)
• archaïc
• archaick (obsolete)

Etymology

From archaism (“ancient or obsolete phrase or expression”) or from French archaïque, ultimately from Ancient Greek ???????? (arkhaïkós, “old-fashioned”), from ??????? (arkhaîos, “from the beginning, antiquated, ancient, old”), from ???? (arkh?, “beginning, origin”), from ???? (árkh?, “I am first”), from ???? (árkh?, “I begin”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?erg?- (“to begin, rule, command”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??.?ke?.?k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??.?ke?.?k/

Noun

archaic (plural archaics)

1. (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.).
   • 1958, Wiley, Gordon R., and Philip Phillips, Method and Theory in American Archaeology, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, page #107:

     [...] Archaic Stage [...] the stage of migratory hunting and gathering cultures continuing into environmental conditions approximately those of the present.

2. (paleoanthropology) (A member of) an archaic variety of Homo sapiens.
   • 2009, The Human Lineage, page 432:

     [...] prefer the third explanation for the advanced-looking features of Neandertals (Chapter 7) and the Ngandong hominins (Chapter 6), but they have had little to say about the post-Erectine archaics from China.

Adjective

archaic (comparative more archaic, superlative most archaic)

1. Of or characterized by antiquity; old-fashioned, quaint, antiquated.
2. (of words) No longer in ordinary use, though still used occasionally to give a sense of antiquity.
3. (archaeology) Belonging to the archaic period

Synonyms

• (old-fashioned): dated, obsolete, old fashioned; see also Thesaurus:obsolete

Derived terms

• archaically, archaism, archaicy

Related terms

Translations

References

• archaic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• William Dwight Whitney and Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1914) , “archaic”, in The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, volume I (A–C), revised edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., OCLC 1078064371.
• The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford University Press, 1998

Anagrams

• arachic

English

Etymology

convention +? -al

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?n?v?n??n?l/

Adjective

conventional (comparative more conventional, superlative most conventional)

1. Pertaining to a convention, as in following generally accepted principles, methods and behaviour.
2. Ordinary, commonplace.
3. Banal, trite, hackneyed, unoriginal or clichéd.
4. (weaponry) Pertaining to a weapon which is not a weapon of mass destruction.
5. (agriculture) Making use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.
6. (bridge) In accordance with a bidding convention, as opposed to a natural bid.

Synonyms

• (pertaining to a convention): typical, canonical
• (banal): stereotypical

Antonyms

• (pertaining to a convention): atypical, out of the ordinary, unconventional
• (ordinary): imaginative
• (weapons): nuclear
• (agriculture): organic
• (bridge): natural

Derived terms

Related terms

• convention

Translations

Noun

conventional (plural conventionals)

1. (finance) A conventional gilt-edged security, a kind of bond paying the holder a fixed cash payment (or coupon) every six months until maturity, at which point the holder receives the final payment and the return of the principal.

Further reading

• "conventional" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 80.