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MUSCOVITE Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary

archaic vs obsolete

Hello,

If you could explain the difference between "archaic" and "obsolete" in the following context?

I just checked an online dictionary for a word that has several different meanings .... worth still some of its meanins appear to be "out of date".

Curiously, some of the "rare" meanings are marked with "archaic" and some with "obsolete".
What do you think the criteria for the dictionary to qualify two different meanings of the same noun as "archaic" and "obsolete, respectively, looks like?

mus-te
  

Top answer

Sometimes no difference is intended, but here is how I see some nuances. archaic Very old. Not part of modern English obsolete Sometimes means 'replaced by a newer word'.

  • Sometimes no difference is intended, but here is how I see some nuances.
  • archaic Very old.
  • Not part of modern English obsolete Sometimes means 'replaced by a newer word'.
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1 Answers
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Sometimes no difference is intended, but here is how I see some nuances.

archaic Very old. Not part of modern English

obsolete Sometimes means 'replaced by a newer word'.

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