arson

noun

ar·​son ˈär-sᵊn 

: the willful or malicious burning of property (such as a building) especially with criminal or fraudulent intent

Arson was determined to be the cause of the fire.

arsonist

ˈär-sᵊn-ist 

noun

arsonous

ˈär-sᵊn-əs 

adjective

Examples of arson in a Sentence

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, but investigators suspect arson.

The town has suffered a rash of arson attacks.

The town has suffered a rash of arsons.

Recent Examples on the Web

These proxies are believed to be behind arson attacks in the UK and the Czech Republic, the targeting of pipelines and data cables in the Baltic and tampering with water supplies in Sweden and Finland. —The Week Uk, theweek, 5 Nov. 2024

Besides the hurricanes in North Carolina and Florida, the most worrisome disruptions to the election season so far were arson attacks that damaged ballots in two drop boxes near the Oregon-Washington border. —Chris Morris, Fortune, 5 Nov. 2024

Additionally, agents are suspected of using self-combustible packages, designed to ignite in transit, to carry out arson attacks across EU nations and the United Kingdom. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024

Barn fire case echoes handling of 'Gilbert Goons' teen violence The two boys facing accusations in juvenile court remain the only two accused in the July 3 arson attack. —Maritza Dominguez, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Anglo-French arsun, arson, arsoun "fire, willful setting of a destructive fire, burn on the skin, branding," going back to Gallo-Romance *ārsiōn-, ārsiō, from Latin ārdēre (perfect and supine stem ārs-) "to catch fire, burn, blaze" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action — more at ardent

Note: Outside of Anglo-French, arsun, arson (with a by-form arsion) is sparsely attested in Old and Middle French. Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch notes that medieval attestations and later survivals are markedly regional (west and southwest France, including Normandy and Francophone Brittany). — The normal suffix of verbal action in later classical Latin and Late Latin was -tiōn-, -tiō, added to the verbal base (competing with the u-stem suffix -tus more common in earlier Latin), with the exception of a small number of formations with -iōn-, -iō (see condition entry 1, legion entry 1, region). Because the phonetic stem changes conditioned by the verbal adjective/past participle suffix -tus (Indo-European *-tos) are identical to those conditioned by -tiōn-, -tiō, new formations with this suffix in post-classical Latin and proto-Romance copy the morphophonemic alterations of the verbal adjective. This is evident in *ārsiō, formed from ārdēre. Note that the perfect ārsī and presumed (?) supine ārsum are most likely themselves analogical forms based on second-conjugation verbs such as mansī, mansum (from manēre "to wait, remain"), given that ārdēre (from āridus, ārdus "dry") cannot be of great antiquity in Latin.

First Known Use

circa 1680, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

arson

noun

ar·​son ˈär-sᵊn 

: the illegal burning of a building or other property

arsonist

-əst 

noun

Legal Definition

arson

noun

ar·​son ˈärs-ᵊn 

: the act or crime of willfully, wrongfully, and unjustifiably setting property on fire often for the purpose of committing fraud (as on an insurance company)

arsonist

-ist 

noun

Etymology

Anglo-French arsoun, alteration of Old French arsin, literally, conflagration, from ars, past participle of ardre to burn