[ahr-kee-iz-uh
m, -key-] 
| 1. | something archaic, as a word or expression. |
| 2. | the use of what is archaic, as in literature or art: The archaism of the novelist's style provided a sense of the period. |
| 3. | the survival or presence of something from the past: The art of letter writing is becoming an archaism. |
| ar·cha·ism (är'kē-ĭz'əm, -kā-) n.
[New Latin archaeismus, from Greek arkhaismos, from arkhaios, ancient; see archaic.] ar'cha·ist n., ar'cha·is'tic (-ĭs'tĭk) adj. |