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 Latinārsiōn- (stem of ārsiō) a burning, equivalent to ārs- (Latinārd(ere) to burn (cf. ardent) + -t(us) past participle suffix) + -iōn--ion
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