different between archaic vs draconian

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d???k??.ni.?n/, /d?æk???.ni.?n/
• (US) enPR: dr?-k?'ni-?n, IPA^(key): /d???ko?.ni.?n/
• Rhymes: -??ni?n

Etymology 1

From the Athenian lawmaker Draco, from Latin Drac?, from Ancient Greek ?????? (Drák?n), known for making harsh laws. See ?????? (drák?n, “dragon”)

Adjective

draconian (comparative more draconian, superlative most draconian)

1. Very severe or strict.

   The Soviet regime was draconian.

   The mayor announced draconian budget cuts today.

Synonyms

• (very severe): cruel, hard, harsh, Orwellian, rigid, strict, stringent

Translations

Etymology 2

From Latin drac? (“dragon”).

Adjective

draconian (comparative more draconian, superlative most draconian)

1. (obsolete, except in fiction) Of or resembling a dragon.

Synonyms

• (resembling a dragon): draconic, draconine, dragonish, dragonlike

Translations

Anagrams

• Conradian, Rinconada, noncardia