archaic words

Vocabulary from yesteryear

Archaic words are terms that have fallen out of common use but remain recognizable, often encountered in older literature, religious texts, or legal documents.

Words like thee, thou, wherefore, and hitherto sound antiquated to modern ears.

Writers sometimes deploy archaic words for period flavor, formality, or comic effect: Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much.

Related

serf · verily · quoth · wherefore · tome · prithee · mayhap · whence · apothecary · hither · wouldst · anon · ye olde · days of yore · parchment · yon · reeve · vellum

Categories
Opposites
temporal currency

archaic wordsmodern slang

Recently coined informal expressions

neologisms · new words · contemporary language · contemporary slang · coinages

register and style

archaic wordsslang

Informal in-group vocabulary

informal language · street language · casual speech · textspeak

Family

words, archaic, archaism

Familiarity
Top 200,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Everyday, not technical · Rated G