arch-prefix

Etymology: Representing Greek ἀρχι- , ἀρχ'- , combining form (in e.g. ἀρχιδιάκονος chief-minister, ἀρχιεπίσκοπος chief-bishop, ἀρχάγγελος chief-angel) of ἀρχός chief, cognate with ἄρχειν to begin, take the lead. Hence in later Latin archidiāconus , archiepiscopus , archangelus ; in Old French arce-archediacne , arce-archevesque , arc-archangele . (In Latin the ch was treated as c ; hence, in Romanic, it remained = k in archangelus ; in other words, it became in Italian arce- , arci- , Occitan, Spanish, Portuguese arce , Old French arce- , later arche- ; whence German erz- , Dutch aarts- .) In Old English at first translated by héah- high (héah-diacon , héah-biscop , héah-ęngel , etc.), but also at length adopted < Latin as arce- , ærce- , ęrce- (? originally arci- ), in ęrce-diacon , ęrce-biscop , ęrce-stól arch-see, ęrce-hád archiepiscopal dignity. The Old English ęrce- , arce- , became in Middle English erche- , arche- , the latter coinciding with Old French 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 medieval Latin and most modern languages; hence many of the English examples, e.g. archduke , are adaptations of foreign titles. Since the 16th cent., arch- has been freely prefixed to names of agents and appellatives (like arci- in Italian, 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 -arch comb. form². (In modern literary words from Greek, the prefix is, in English, as in all the Romance languages, archi- prefix) 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.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.