ARCHE,
αρχἠ
BEGINNING, FIRST, PRINCIPALITIES

By Gaylon West.



English: "arche" is trnslated in KJV 59 times as "beginning"; 39 (times), principalities; 6, first; 4, corners; 4, principality; 2, began; 1, beginnings; 1, magistrates; 1, power; 1, principles; 1, rule



In English, we have several forms of this prefix (“arch-” and “archi-” and “arche-”), all borrowed from Greek (arkh-, arkhi-, arkhe-) and meaning principal or leading or beginning.

The hard sound appears in words like "archeology" (beginning history), "archaic" (from the beginning), "architect" (chief builder), "archangel" (leading angel), "archetype" (beginning model), and "architrave" (the main beam that rests on a column).

In other cases, "arch-" has a soft "ch" sound, as in compounds like "archbishop," "archduke," and "archdiocese."

This is the prefix that later became an adjective and now appears (sometimes hyphenated) in compounds like "archenemy," "archconservative," "archrival," etc.

And finally we come to the noun "arch," meaning a curved structure. It comes from the Latin arcus, meaning a curve or bow.

Thayer Definition:
1) beginning, origin 2) the person or thing that commences, the first person or thing in a series, the leader 3) that by which anything begins to be, the origin, the active cause 4) the extremity of a thing 4a) of the corners of a sail 5) the first place, principality, rule, magistracy 5a) of angels and demons
Part of Speech: noun feminine
A Related Word by Thayer’s/Strong’s Number: from G756