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

Example Sentences

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

Prosecutors have charged them with murder as well as a slew of other felonies, including robbery and arson. —Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 15 May 2023

The four suspects were all charged with first-degree murder and face other charges, including armed robbery and arson, police said. —Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 10 May 2023

And last April, a Brooklyn bar serving LGBTQ New Yorkers closed after an arson attack left the establishment unrecognizable. —Jay Valle, NBC News, 1 May 2023

The arson attack Koçak endured was not just a microcosm of something happening in Neukölln or Berlin at large. —Ali Breland, The New Republic, 26 Apr. 2023

Mora-Vahena was sentenced to 10 years in prison on the arson charge and five year in prison on the assault charge, the latter of which will be suspended to 30 months. —Michael Lee, Fox News, 13 Apr. 2023

The fire was successfully put out, and arson investigators were investigating the incident, according to Krynsky. —Kye Graves, The Arizona Republic, 28 Mar. 2023

After an arson attack prevented that clinic from opening as planned last summer, organizers hoped to open it next month. —Mead Gruver, ajc, 23 Mar. 2023

In January, Kinney announced a leave of absence from Chicago Fire to deal with a personal matter, making his final appearance on the Feb. 22 episode when Severide left town to attend an arson investigation training program. —Lester Fabian Brathwaite, EW.com, 10 Mar. 2023

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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