arson

1 of 2

noun (1)

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

arsonist

2 of 2

noun (2)

ar·​son·​ist ˈär-sᵊn-ist 

plural -s

: one who commits arson : incendiary, firebug

Examples of arson in a Sentence

Noun (1)

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

Noun

Heat waves this year, for instance, have dried out vegetation that’s now fodder for fires started by a lightning strike, an errant spark from machinery or arson. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 8 July 2026

Cal Fire investigators determined both fires were arson and arrested Vasquez less than six weeks later. — Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 July 2026

The individual alleged to have started the Lachman fire was charged with arson in federal court, though the case ended in a mistrial. — Char Miller, Time, 30 June 2026

Davis was taken into custody on charges of arson causing bodily harm, attempted first-degree murder and criminal attempt to commit a first-degree felony, the affidavit said. — Sofia Saric, Miami Herald, 7 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

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

Noun (1)

circa 1680, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for arson

• larsen
• parson

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

Noun

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