noun
arson
AH-suhn
noun
1
The crime of deliberately setting fire to property.
"Investigators ruled the warehouse blaze an act of arson."
How to Use Arson
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishDeliberately starting a fire to cause damage — a criminal offence.
Easily confused with
Common pairings
charged with arson
suspected arson
commit arson
Word Forms
arsoned past tense, arsons plural, arsons plural, arsons singular
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Etymology
From Anglo-Norman arson, from Latin ardere, "to burn" — the same root gives us "ardent."