arch-

arch-, prefix
  (ɑːtʃ; exc. in archangel)
  repr. Gr. ἀρχι-, ἀρχ'-, comb. form of ἀρχ-ός chief (cogn. w. ἄρχ-ειν to begin, take the lead), as in ἀρχι-διάκονος chief-minister, ἀρχι-επίσκοπος chief-bishop, ἀρχ-άγγελος chief-angel. Hence in later L. archidiāconus, archiepiscopus, archangelus; in OF. arce-archediacne, arce-archevesque, arc-archangele. (In L. the ch was treated as c; hence, in Romanic, it remained = k in archangelus; in other words, it became in It. arce-, arci-, Pr., Sp., Pg. arce, OF. arce-, later arche-; whence G. erz-, Du. aarts-.)
  In OE. at first translated by héah- high (héah-diacon, héah-biscop, héah-ęngel, etc.), but also at length adopted from L. as arce-, ærce-, ęrce- (? orig. arci-), in ęrce-diacon, ęrce-biscop, ęrce-stól arch-see, ęrce-hád archiepiscopal dignity. The OE. ęrce-, arce-, became in ME. erche-, arche-, the latter coinciding with OF. arche-, whence also archangel was added. From these, in later times, arch- became a living formative, prefixable to any name of office. The same happened in med.L. and most mod. langs.; hence many of the Eng. examples, e.g. archduke, are adaptations of foreign titles. Since the 16th c., arch- has been freely prefixed to names of agents and appellatives (like arci- in Ital., and archi- in French, as archifou, archipédant); in a few instances also to appellations of things, and occasionally even to adjectives. Finally, from its faculty of being prefixed to any appellative, arch has gradually come to be a separate adjective; see prec. word. (In modern literary words from Gr., the prefix is, in Eng., as in all the Romance langs., archi- q.v.) In pronunciation, the compounds of arch- have two accents, either of which may be the stronger, according to emphasis, as in right hand. But established compounds, as archangel, -bishop, -deacon, -duke, tend to have the main stress on arch-, especially when they are prefixed to a name, as, the ˈArchduke ˈCharles, ˈArchbishop ˈCranmer. As a prefix the usual sense is ‘chief, principal, high, leading, prime,’ occasionally ‘first in time, original, initial,’ but in modern use it is chiefly prefixed intensively to words of bad or odious sense, as in arch-traitor, arch-enemy, arch-rogue.
  1. a. In titles of office, rank, or dignity: meaning, ‘Chief, principal, -in-chief; superior, master-; one who occupies a position or rank above those who bear the simple title’; as archbishop, archdeacon, archduke; arch-beadle, -brahmin, -chaplain, -druid, -eunuch (Gr. ἀρχιευνοῦχος), -gunner (obs.), -maˈgirist (Gr. ἀρχι-µάγειρος) chief cook, -mime (= archimime), -minister, -phylarch chief magistrate of the tribe, -satrap, -visitor; especially in many titles of offices in the Holy Roman or German empire, as arch-butler, -chamberlain, -chancellor, -count, -cupbearer; arch-dapifer, chief sewer, whose office it was to carry on horseback the first meal to the newly-crowned emperor, whence archdapifership; arch-earl, -marshal, -sewer, -steward, -treasurer,
  b. In appellations formed after these, and applied in a similar sense, as arch-apostle chief apostle, or chief of the apostles; arch-chief, -corsair, -dæmon, -emperor, -engineer, -genethliac (Gr. γενεθλιακός) chief caster of nativities, -governor, -magician, -patriarch, -pontiff, -primate, -prince, -publican, -regent, -ruler, -sacrificator, -sacrificer, -shepherd, -vestryman, -workmaster.

a.

1693 Apol. Clergy Scot. 20 *Arch-Bedle to the Kirk.

1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The elector of Brandenbourg is *arch-chamberlain of the empire.

1842 Alison Hist. Eur. XIII. lxxxix. §6. 185 Talleyrand in his capacity of *arch-chancellor of the empire.

1614 Selden Titles Hon. 243 *Arch-Chaplains constituted, in those elder times in the Court for Ecclesiastical matters.

1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Arch-Count, a title antiently given to the Earl of Flanders.

1690 Lond. Gaz. mmdxxxiii/3 The Elector of Bavaria, as *Arch⁓dapifer, rid in his Robes to the Kitchin.

1661 Morgan Sph. Gentry iv. vi. 82 The *archdapifirship with all the prerogatives thereof.

1747 Carte Hist. Eng. I. 32 The *Arch-Druid's mansion house.

1839 Keightley Hist. Eng. I. 2 Presided over by an *arch-druid.

1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physic 338/1 The *Archearle Fredericke.

1727–51 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The *archeunuch was one of the principal officers in Constantinople.

1664 Floddan Field viii. 72 Th' *archgunner on th' 'English part.

1814 Sch. Good Living 26 Cadmus, *archmagirist to the king of Sidon.

a 1634 Chapman Alphonsus Plays 1873 III. 206 Augustus Duke of Saxon, *Arch Marshall to the Emperor.

1678 Marvell Corr. 361 Wks. 1875 II. 631 One Mr. Welch is their *arch-minister.

1683 Burnet tr. More's Utopia 76 Another Magistrate..called..the *Arch-philarch.

1847 Ld. Lindsay Chr. Art. I. Introd. 55 The *archsatrap Satan.

1622 Heylin Cosmogr. ii. (1682) 103 The Office of Archidapifer, or *Arch-Sewer.

1643 Prynne Power Parl. App. 156 The king verily hath his great Master or *Arch-Steward.

1661 Morgan Sph. Gentry iv. vi. 82 The Count Palatine was created..*Arch Treasurer of the Empire.

a 1672 Wood Life (1848) 41 By the favour of the Warden Sir N. Brent the *Arch-visitor.

b.

1726 J. Trapp Popery i. (T.) The highest titles would have been given to St. Petre, such as *arch-apostle.

1590 Barrow & Greenw. in Confer. 43 Christ being..*Arch⁓cheif, high Bishop of Bishopps.

1728 Morgan Algiers II. iv. 288, I bid this *Arch-Corsair a final Adieu.

1849 Sir J. Stephen Eccl. Biog. (1850) I. 365 Indolence, self-will, and selfishness..*archdæmons of the cloister.

1816 Southey in Q. Rev. XVI. 230 Grand Monarque, Emperor, or *Arch⁓emperor, if it liked him better.

1835 Browning Paracelsus ii. 32 The dupes of this Old *arch-genethliac.

1567 Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 420 Yee *Archgouerners of Christs Church.

1553–87 Foxe A. & M. 88/2 The magicians and *archmagicians.

1579 Fulke Heskins's Parl. Title-p., *Archpatriarches of the Popish Synagogue.

1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 16 This *archpontiff of the rights of men.

1583 Stubbes Anat. Abuses 17 At the command of their superintendent, or *arch⁓primate.

1649 Bp. Hall Cases Consc. vii. (1654) 47 The *Arch-publican Zacheus.

? 1650 Don Bellianis 107 *Arch⁓ruler over so many territories.

1818 Bentham Ch. Eng. 361 The Noble Reformer, in the character of *Arch-Sacrificator.

1656 Trapp Comm. Matt. ii. 6 Christ is the *arch-Shepherd, that feeds his people daily.

1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. I. i. 23 The *arch-vestryman, who objects to every thing proposed by everybody.

1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Superb. Flag. Wks. i. 28/1 Then did the *Archworkmaster of this All Create this Massie Vniversall Ball.

  2. In descriptive appellations: meaning, ‘One pre-eminent as, who performs the action or possesses the quality before others; greatest, chief, leading’; as arch-antiquary, arch-artist, arch-builder, arch-consoler, arch-critic, arch-defender, arch-diplomatist, arch-divine, arch-dogmatist, arch-exorcist, arch-friend, arch-host, arch-jockey, arch-leader, arch-lexicographer, arch-mystagogue, arch-philosopher, arch-player, arch-politician, arch-prophet, arch-protestant, arch-puritan, arch-representative, arch-saint, arch-semipelagian, arch-urger, arch-wag, arch-wench, arch-worker.
  In modern use especially with terms of odium or execration: meaning, ‘Extreme, out-and-out, worst of, ringleader of’; as arch-agitator, arch-botcher, arch-boutefeu (= incendiary), arch-buffoon, arch-charlatan, arch-cheater, arch-conspirator, arch-corrupter, arch-cosener, arch-criminal, arch-deceiver, arch-depredator, arch-despot, arch-devil, arch-dissembler, arch-disturber, arch-dolt, arch-felon, arch-fool, arch-gomeril, arch-humbug, arch-hypocrite, arch-informer, arch-knave, arch-liar, arch-metaphysician, arch-mistress, arch-plotter, arch-plunderer, arch-pretender, arch-rationalist, arch-robber, arch-rogue, arch-scandalmonger, arch-sceptic, arch-scoundrel, arch-seducer, arch-snake, arch-spy, arch-tempter, arch-turncoat, arch-traitor, arch-tyrant, arch-vagabond. Many of these are used with a specific reference to the Devil.

1840 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) V. 158 Thanking the *‘Arch-Agitator’ [O'Connell].

1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. v. iii. 12 Proued by our *arch-Antiquary in his famous work.

1640 Sanderson 21 Serm. Ad. Aul. xii. (1673) 176 The great *Arch-architect, the builder and maker of all things.

1579 J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf B vij b, That Romish *archbaalam.

a 1635 Corbet To Ghost R. Wisdome (T.) *Archbotcher of a psalm or prayer.

1685 Evelyn Diary (1827) III. 164 The *arch-boutefeu Ferguson, Matthews, were not yet found.

1577 Holinshed Chron. II. 26/2 The *archbrochers of their brethrens bloud.

c 1600 Hooker Eccl. Pol. vii. 441 The very blessed Apostle..giveth unto himself the title of an *arch⁓builder [1 Cor. iii. 10].

1853 Trench Proverbs 141 Men fancy they can cheat the *arch-cheater.

1548 Hall Chron. Hen. IV an. 1 (1809) 24 Hector Boece, the Scottish *Arche⁓chronocler.

1859 Helps Friends in C. Ser. ii. I. 8 Change is the *arch-consoler.

1594 Merry Knack i. in Hazl. Dodsl. VI. 528 When I came to the Exchange, I espied..An *arch⁓cosener.

1938 R. G. Collingwood Princ. Art v. 85 Hair-raising fiction concerned with *arch-criminals, gunmen, and sinister foreigners.

? 1626 tr. Boccalina 187 (T.) Promoted..to be the *archcritick of the sacred muses.

1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 520 A new crime of the *archdeceiver.

1616 R. C. Times' Whis. v. 2111 Drunkennesse hath got an *arch-defender.

1818 Bentham Ch. Eng. 349 Wealth thus devoured by the *arch-depredator.

1649 S. Clark Lives Fathers (1654) 245 Luther..called the Zinglians, *Archdevils.

1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xii. 116 The King of France then, is the *arch-disturber.

1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia (1869) 39 Thies wysefooles and verye *archedoltes.

1612–5 Bp. Hall Contempl. iii. i. 61 They accuse him for an *archexorcist, for the worst kinde of magician. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 179 Which when th' arch-fellon saw, Due entrance he disdained.

1866 Carlyle Remin. (1881) I. 132 Robert Owen, the then incipient *arch-gomeril.

1826 Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 40 The ‘Life of an *Arch-humbug.’

1685 Baxter Paraphr. Matt. xxvii. 6 Thus *Arch-hypocrites make conscience of Ceremony, and make no conscience of Perjury.

1761 Sterne Tr. Shandy (1802) IV. xx. 93 As if the *arch-jockey of jockeys had got behind me.

1866 Spectator 6 Jan., Calling you or your friend ‘an *arch⁓knave.’

1827 Hare Guesses i. (1873) 82 Vice is the greatest of all Jacobins, the *arch-leveler.

1905 W. James Let. 24 Aug. (1920) II. 232 When you write your treatise against philosophy, you will be classed as the *arch-metaphysician.

1930 R. Campbell Poems 18 Your muse..*Arch-mistress of the slowly crawling theme.

a 1711 Ken Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 76 A Legion led, With the *Arch-Murderer at Head.

1856 R. Vaughan Mystics (1860) I. 231 Following Dionysius, that *arch-mystagogue.

1610 Healey St. Aug., City of God 254 One old *arch-plaier plaid the Mimike.

1625 tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. iii. (1688) 344 The *Arch-plotter..of this Treason.

1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. xiii. (1675) 250 The Old Serpent himself, that *Arch-politician.

1677 Gilpin Dæmonol. Sac. (1867) 169 Arch-heretics have been *arch⁓pretenders to sanctity.

a 1910 W. James Some Probl. Philos. (1911) ii. 35 Plato, the *arch-rationalist, explained the details of nature by their participation in ‘ideas’.

1873 J. Morley Rousseau I. ix. 309 Voltaire was the *Arch-representative of all these elements.

a 1650 May Satyr. Puppy 46 Some *Arch-Rogue..hath done her wrong.

1920 D. H. Lawrence Let. 4 Jan. (1962) I. 606 She is staying with an *arch-scandalmonger.

1936 Mind XLV. 336 Their specific intellectual relationship to the *arch-sceptic himself [sc. Hume].

1896 Westm. Gaz. 21 May 2/1 There is no knowing how many gullible young women this *arch-scoundrel might not have married and fleeced.

1674 Hickman Hist. Quinquart. (ed. 2) 38 Forged by Faustus that *Arch-Semipelagian.

1881 G. M. Hopkins Sermons & Dev. Wr. (1959) 199 So that if the Devil is symbolised as a snake he must be an *archsnake and a dragon.

1630 Wadsworth Sp. Pilgr. viii. 89, I was an *Arch-spye against their State.

1916 Joyce Portr. Artist Young Man iii. 135 Eve yielded to the wiles of the *arch tempter.

1654 Gataker Disc. Apol. 64 As did that *Arch⁓turncoat of Spalata.

1862 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) VII. lv. 2 This *arch-tyrant..most detestable of the Cæsarean family. 1656 tr. B. Valentine's Twelve Keyes 6 That *arch⁓wench Venus.

1877 E. Conder Bas. Faith iv. 189 The materials with which Reason, the *arch-worker, toils to construct her fabric.

  3. As prec., with sense of, ‘First in time, original’; as arch-father (1541), arch-founder, arch-god, arch-messenger, arch-plagiary. Mostly arch.

1541 Coverdale Old Faith v. Wks. 1844 I. 29 [Cain] the *archfather of all murderers.

1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. (1851) 106 Him whom they fain to be the *archfounder of Prelaty, S. Peter.

1846 Grote Greece (1869) I. 12 Homer knows nothing of Uranus, in the sense of an *arch-God, anterior to Kronos.

1835 Lytton Rienzi vii. vi. 334 The *arch-messenger to smooth the way and prepare the welcome.

1659 Gell Amendm. Bible 787 Adam the *arch⁓plagiary, who hath brought us all into bondage.

  4. Of things: with sense of a. ‘Chief, principal, main, prime’; as arch-beacon, arch-city, arch-fire, arch-heart, arch-machine, arch-piece, arch-pillar (1553), arch-practice, arch-synagogue (all Obs. or archaic); arch-infamy, arch-mediocrity, arch-mock, arch-mockery, arch-sin (1598), etc. b. ‘Primitive, original’; as † arch-christendom, arch-essence, arch-form. Spec. arch-house, archducal house (of Austria); † arch-pall, archiepiscopal pall; † arch-sea, archipelago; arch-see, archiepiscopal see.

1602 Carew Cornwall (1723) 138 b, The top of the Cornish *Archbeacon Hainborough.

c 1630 Risdon Surv. Devon. §314 Their order..was..utterly abolished in *Arch⁓christendom.

1633 Fletcher Purple Isl. ii. xliv, That *arch⁓city of this government.

1652 Benlowes Theoph. viii. x, *Archessence! Thou, self full! self infinite! Residing in approachlesse light.

1654 Goddard in Burton's Diary (1828) I. 171 A piece of that *archfire, that hath been in this your time.

1873 M. Blind Strauss's Old Faith li. 208 The two *arch-forms of organic life.

1685 tr. Gracian's Courtier's Man. 122 The Heart of Alexander was an *Arch⁓heart, seeing a whole world lodged easily in a corner of it.

1834 Bancroft Hist. U.S. VI. Index 497 Decadence of the *arch-house.

1871 Browning Pr. Hohenst. 1529 That lie of lies, *arch-infamy.

1861 Emerson Cond. Life i. 14 Man is the *arch-machine.

1844 Disraeli Coningsby I. ii. i. 155 The *Arch-Mediocrity who presided, rather than ruled, over this Cabinet of Mediocrities.

1604 Shakes. Oth. iv. i. 71 O, 'tis the spight of hell, the Fiend's *Arch-mock.

1826 E. Irving Babylon II. vi. 85 Its *arch-mockery, and master-piece of wickedness.

1866 Jrnl. Sacr. Lit. No. 19. 187 Little less than an *arch⁓mystery.

1848 Petrie tr. O.E. Chron. (1853) 79 [He] went to Rome after his *arch-pall.

1630 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 38 Sir Nicholas Bacon, An *arch-piece of Wit and Wisdom.

1553–87 Foxe A. & M. 209/1 *Archpillers of all papistrie.

1586 Bright Melanch. xxxv. 193 That *archpiller of faith and assurance in Christ Jesus our hope.

1628 Earle Microcosm. liii. 115 It may be an *Arch-practice of State.

1613 R. Zouche Dove 25 The *Arch-Sea rowling from th' unruly North.

1612 Drayton Polyolb. xxiv. (1748) 360 Next these *arch-sees of ours now London place doth take.

1865 Morn. Star 16 Feb., The *arch see of Canterbury.

1598 J. Dickenson Arisbas (1878) 55 The Seede of all mischiefe, that *Arch⁓sinne usurie.

1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. iii. vi. §33 They had their *Arch-Synagogue at the North corner of the Old-Jury.

  5. Adjectives: as † arch-chemic, chief in alchemy; † arch-noble, noble in a superior degree.

1667 Milton P.L. iii. 609 Th' *Arch-chimic Sun so farr from us remote.

1761 Smollett Gil Blas iii. ix. I. 301 The ladies of the stage are not only noble, but *arch-noble.

  
  
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   ▸ arch-nemesis n.

1901 P. V. Mighels Crystal Sceptre xliii. 371 The wild brutes,..crazy to beat me to a pulp, as their *arch-nemesis. 1928 Daily Kennebec Jrnl. (Augusta, Maine) 28 July 5/1 Big Bill Tilden called forth a burst of the furious tennis of his younger years today to defeat his arch nemesis. 2005 D. Mansour From Abba to Zoom xiii. 470 His arch-nemesis is the evil Lex Luthor, who diminishes Superman's power with Kryptonite.

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