pseudo-archaic, a.
(ps-, ˌsjuːdəʊɑːˈkeɪɪk)
Having the appearance or profession of being ancient, but not really so; artificially archaic in style, language, etc. So pseudo-ˈarchaism, false or artificial archaism; pseudo-ˈarchaist, one who invents or uses sham archaisms, esp. in language.
| 1882 Symonds in Macm. Mag. XLV. 320 These fragments of a genuinely antique composition make the pseudo⁓archaism of the ballad..more glaring. 1883 C. C. Perkins Ital. Sculpture iii. iv. 344 note, It is possibly a pseudo⁓archaic work of the fifteenth century. 1895 J. A. H. Murray in Nation (N.Y.) 3 Oct. 239/1 The ‘word’ derring-do (if it be a word) belongs only to nineteenth-century pseudo⁓archaists. 1904 H. Bradley Making of English 228 Spenser's language, ‘pseudo-archaic’ as it may be called. |