Ar"chi- (&?;). [L., archi-, Gr. 'archi-, a prefix which is from the same root as
'a`rchein to be first, to begin; 'archh the first place, beginning; 'archo`s
chief. Cf. AS. arce-,
erce-, OHG. erzi-, G. erz- .]
A prefix signifying chief, arch; as, architect, archiepiscopal. In Biol. and Anat. it usually means primitive, original, ancestral; as, archipterygium, the primitive fin or wing.
Hear it pronounced