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arson

 [ahr-suhn]   Example Sentences Origin

ar·son

   [ahr-suhn]
noun
Law. the malicious burning of another's house or property, or in some statutes, the burning of one's own house or property, as to collect insurance.
Origin:
1670–80; < Anglo-French, Old French < Late Latin ārsiōn- (stem of ārsiō) a burning, equivalent to ārs- (Latin ārd(ere) to burn (compare ardent) + -t(us) past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion

Related forms
ar·son·ous, adjective

Can be confused: arsenous, arsonous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Arson is always a great word to know.
So is plea. Does it mean:
an allegation made by a party to a legal suit, in support of his or her claim or defense; a defendant's answer to a legal declaration or charge
the legal claim of one person upon the property of another person to secure the payment of a debt or the satisfaction of an obligation
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Example Sentences
  • If the prevention of arson is difficult, the arson conviction rate is almost nil.
  • My favorite story concerns systematic arson as part of a real estate scam.
  • It is not known yet whether the fire was caused by arson or was an accident.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
arson (ˈɑːsən)
 
—n
criminal law the act of intentionally or recklessly setting fire to another's property or to one's own property for some improper reason
 
[C17: from Old French, from Medieval Latin ārsiō, from Latin ārdēre to burn; see ardent]
 
'arsonist
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

arson
1670s, from Anglo-Fr. arsoun (1275), from O.Fr. arsion, from L.L. arsionem (nom. arsio) "a burning," from L. arsus pp. of ardere "to burn," from PIE base *as- "to burn, glow" (see ardent). The O.E. term was bærnet, lit. "burning;" and Coke has indictment of burning
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(1640). Arsonist is from 1864.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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