Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - archaic

 adjective  Etymology: French or Greek; French archaique, from Greek archaikos, from archaios  Date: 1832  1. having the characteristics of the language of the past and surviving chiefly in specialized uses an ~ word  2. of, relating to, or characteristic of an earlier or more primitive time ; antiquated ~ legal traditions  3. capitalized of or belonging to the early or formative phases of a culture or a period of artistic development; especially of or belonging to the period leading up to the classical period of Greek culture  4. surviving from an earlier period; specifically typical of a previously dominant evolutionary stage  5. capitalized of or relating to the period from about 8000 B.C. to 1000 B.C. and the North American cultures of that time  Synonyms: see old  • ~ally adverb