arrear

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French arere, ariere, from Vulgar Latin *ad retro (“to the rear”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈɹɪə/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Adverb

arrear (comparative more arrear, superlative most arrear)

1. (obsolete) Towards the rear, backwards. [14th-16th c.]
   • 1591, Edmund Spenser, Virgil's Gnat, ll. 465-8:

     She, (Ladie) having well before approoved / The feends to be too cruell and severe, / Observ'd th' appointed way, as her behooved, / Ne ever did her ey-sight turne arere [...].

2. (obsolete) Behind time; overdue. [15th-19th c.]
   • 1803, Edward Hyde East, Reports of cases Argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench, London 1814, vol. 3, p. 559:

     In case the annuity should be arrear for sixty days being lawfully demanded, then the trustee might enter upon the premises assigned [...].

Noun

arrear (plural arrears)

1. Work to be done, obligation.

   I have a large arrear of letters to write. -- J. D. Forbes.

   My own work, with its manifold arrears, took me all day to clear off. -- Stoker, Dracula

2. Unpaid debt.

Etymology

Possibly from a Vulgar Latin *arredāre (“arrange, provide”).

Verb

arrear (first-person singular present indicative arreio, past participle arreado)

1. (transitive) to harness (to place a harness on something)

Etymology

arre +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /areˈaɾ/

Verb

arrear (first-person singular present arreo, first-person singular preterite arreé, past participle arreado)

1. to urge
2. to harness
3. to drive (cattle)