"A" Word Origins

arson

Latin

From Anglo-Norman arson, from Latin ardere, "to burn" — the same root gives us "ardent."

arsonist

Origin

From arson + -ist, "one who does."

arsphenamine

Origin

From arsenic + phen- + amine.

art

Latin

From Latin ars ("skill, craft"), via Old French art — it displaced the native Old English word "cræft," which survives today as "craft."

artagnan

Origin

From French Artagnan, from Latin Artanius, from Transalpine Gaulish artos (“ursine bear”)+-anum.

artaxerxes

Origin

From Latin Artaxerxēs, from Ancient Greek Ἀρταξέρξης (Artaxérxēs), from Old Persian 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 (a-r-t-x-š-ç-a /⁠R̥taxšaçāʰ⁠/, “whose rule is through truth”). Akin to Old Armenian Արտաշէս (Artašēs) and Persian اردشیر (ardašēr).

Artemis

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Artemis; the deeper origin of the name is uncertain.

arterial

Origin

From artery + the adjective-forming suffix -al.

artery

Latin

From Old French artaire, from Latin arteria, from Greek arteria, originally meaning "windpipe" as well as "artery."

artful

Origin

From art (in the older sense of "skill") + -ful.

arthritis

Greek

From Greek arthritis, "joint disease," from arthron, "a joint," plus the medical suffix -itis, "inflammation."

Arthur

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin Arthurus, possibly from a Welsh word for "bear"; exact origins are debated.

artichoke

Italian

Traced through Italian, Spanish, and Arabic back to a Middle Persian word for a thorny plant — a long journey for a single vegetable.

article

Latin

From Latin articulus, "a small joint or part," which also gives us "articulate."

articular

Origin

From Latin articularis. By surface analysis, article + -ar.

articulate

Latin

From Latin articulatus, "jointed" or "distinct," from articulus, "a small joint" — the sense shifted from physical joints to clearly "joined-up" speech.

articulated

Origin

From the past participle of articulate, in the sense "jointed."

Artie

Origin

From Art (itself short for Arthur) plus the affectionate suffix -ie.

artifact

Latin

From the Latin phrase arte factum 'made by skill', from ars 'art, skill' and facere 'to make'.

artifice

Origin

From Middle French artifice, from Latin artificium.

artificer

Origin

From Middle English artificer, from Middle French artificier, from Latin artificiarius.

artificial

Latin

From Latin artificialis, from artificium ("a craft" or "skill"), built from ars ("skill") and facere ("to make").

artificially

Origin

From artificial + -ly.

artificious

Origin

Latin artificiosus.

artillery

Old French

From Old French artillerie, related to atillier, "to equip or fit out" — originally covering any war equipment, not just big guns.

artilleryman

Origin

From artillery + -man.

artiodactyl

Origin

Learned borrowing from taxonomic name Artiodactyla, from Ancient Greek ἄρτιος (ártios, “even”) + δάκτυλος (dáktulos, “finger, toe”).

artisan

Latin

From Middle French artisan, ultimately from Latin ars ("art, skill").

artisanal

Origin

From artisan + -al.

artist

Late Latin

From French artiste, from Late Latin artista, from ars ("art").

artiste

French

Borrowed from French artiste, a doublet of the English word "artist."

artistic

French

From French artistique, from artiste + -ique.

artistically

Origin

From artistic + -ally.

artistry

Origin

From artist + -ry.

Artois

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English Artoys, from Middle French Artois, Artoys, from Old French Arteis, from Latin Atrebatēs; the modern pronunciation has been readjusted after modern French Artois.

arts

Origin

Variant spelling of Artz.

artsy

English

From art plus the informal suffix -sy; chiefly North American, alongside the British form arty.

artwork

Origin

From art + work — literally "work of art," first used for illustrations prepared for print.

arty

Origin

From art + the informal suffix -y, which turns a noun into a casual descriptive adjective (compare "sporty," "horsy").

arugula

Italian

Borrowed into American English from a southern Italian dialect word related to standard Italian rucola; British English instead uses "rocket," from the same ultimate root.

Arun

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit अरुण (aruṇa).

Arvid

Origin

Borrowed from Danish Arvid, Swedish Arvid or Norwegian Arvid.

Arvind

Origin

Borrowed from Hindi अरविंद (arvind, “lotus”).

arvinda

Origin

Borrowed from Sanskrit अरविंद (araviṃda, “lotus”).

arvo

Origin

A casual shortening of "afternoon," with the informal -o ending common in Australian slang (compare "servo" for service station).

Arya

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit ā́rya, meaning "noble" or "respectable" — originally a term the Indo-Iranian peoples used for themselves.

Aryan

Sanskrit · 1800

From Sanskrit ā́rya ("noble"). Borrowed into English in the 1800s as a linguistic term, then hijacked in the 19th–20th centuries by race theorists — most infamously the Nazis — to invent a supposed racial hierarchy that has no basis in the word's actual history.

as

Old English

A shortened, worn-down form of Old English eallswā ("just so, all so"), which also gave us the word "also."