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arrear. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English arere, from Old French arere, from Vulgar Latin *ad retro (literally “to the rear”).
Pronunciation
Adverb
arrear (comparative more arrear, superlative most arrear)
- (obsolete) Towards the rear, backwards.
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 [...].
- (obsolete) Behind time; overdue.
1803, Edward Hyde East, Reports of cases Argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench, volume 3, London, published 1814, page 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)
- Work to be done, obligation.
- November 4, 1866, James David Forbes, letter to E. C. Batten
- I have a large arrear of letters to write.
1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 98:After World War II it took time to clear up the arrears of track maintenance on both lines and it was not until 1953 that the L.M.R. restored any two-hour schedules, the W.R. following suit a year later.
- Unpaid debt.
fall into arrears
1987, Grateful Dead (lyrics and music), “Touch of Grey”, in In the Dark:I know the debt is in arrears / The dog has not been fed in years / It's even worse than it appears, but / It's alright
- That which is in the rear or behind.
Translations
unpaid debt
- Armenian: ապառք (hy) (apaṙkʻ)
- Chinese:
- Cantonese: 拖欠 (to1 him3)
- Czech: nedoplatek m, prodlení n
- Danish: (udestående, ubetalt) gæld (da) c
- Dutch: achterstallige betaling
- Finnish: erääntynyt velka; verojäämä (tax debt)
- French: arriéré (fr)
- German: Rückstand (de) m, Zahlungsrückstand (de) m
- Hungarian: hátralék (hu), elmaradás (hu)
- Irish: riaráiste m
- Maori: utu tārewa
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: utestående, betalingsetterskudd, ubetalt gjeld m or f
- Portuguese: atrasdos m pl
- Punjabi: ਬਾਕੀ f (bākī)
- Russian: задолженность (ru) (zadolžennostʹ)
- Spanish: deuda vencida f
- Swedish: (återstående (sv), utestående (sv), obetald (sv)) skuld (sv) c, efterskott n
- Tarifit: amerwas m
- Turkish: bakiye (tr), ödenmemiş borç
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Portuguese
Etymology
Possibly from a Vulgar Latin *arredāre (“arrange, provide”), from Vandalic *rith (“advice”).
Pronunciation
Verb
arrear (first-person singular present arreio, first-person singular preterite arreei, past participle arreado)
- (transitive) to harness (to place a harness on something)
- Synonym: aparelhar
Conjugation
1Brazilian Portuguese.
2European Portuguese.
Derived terms
Spanish
Etymology
Possibly from a Vulgar Latin *arredāre (“arrange, provide”), from Vandalic *rith (“advice”). Cognate with English array. Less likely from arre + -ar.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /areˈaɾ/
- Rhymes: -aɾ
- Syllabification: a‧rre‧ar
Verb
arrear (first-person singular present arreo, first-person singular preterite arreé, past participle arreado)
- to urge
- to harness
- to drive (cattle), herd
Conjugation
1Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
2Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
Selected combined forms of arrear
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.
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singular
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plural
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1st person
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2nd person
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3rd person
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1st person
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2nd person
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3rd person
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with infinitive arrear
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dative
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arrearme
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arrearte
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arrearle, arrearse
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arrearnos
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arrearos
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arrearles, arrearse
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accusative
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arrearme
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arrearte
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arrearlo, arrearla, arrearse
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arrearnos
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arrearos
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arrearlos, arrearlas, arrearse
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with gerund arreando
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dative
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arreándome
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arreándote
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arreándole, arreándose
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arreándonos
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arreándoos
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arreándoles, arreándose
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accusative
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arreándome
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arreándote
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arreándolo, arreándola, arreándose
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arreándonos
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arreándoos
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arreándolos, arreándolas, arreándose
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with informal second-person singular tú imperative arrea
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dative
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arréame
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arréate
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arréale
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arréanos
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not used
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arréales
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accusative
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arréame
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arréate
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arréalo, arréala
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arréanos
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not used
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arréalos, arréalas
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with informal second-person singular vos imperative arreá
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dative
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arreame
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arreate
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arreale
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arreanos
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not used
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arreales
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accusative
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arreame
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arreate
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arrealo, arreala
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arreanos
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not used
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arrealos, arrealas
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with formal second-person singular imperative arree
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dative
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arréeme
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not used
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arréele, arréese
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arréenos
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not used
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arréeles
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accusative
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arréeme
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not used
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arréelo, arréela, arréese
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arréenos
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not used
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arréelos, arréelas
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with first-person plural imperative arreemos
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dative
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not used
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arreémoste
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arreémosle
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arreémonos
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arreémoos
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arreémosles
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accusative
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not used
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arreémoste
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arreémoslo, arreémosla
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arreémonos
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arreémoos
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arreémoslos, arreémoslas
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with informal second-person plural imperative arread
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dative
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arreadme
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not used
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arreadle
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arreadnos
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arreaos
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arreadles
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accusative
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arreadme
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not used
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arreadlo, arreadla
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arreadnos
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arreaos
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arreadlos, arreadlas
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with formal second-person plural imperative arreen
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dative
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arréenme
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not used
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arréenle
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arréennos
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not used
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arréenles, arréense
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accusative
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arréenme
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not used
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arréenlo, arréenla
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arréennos
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not used
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arréenlos, arréenlas, arréense
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References
Further reading