ARCHI-

Ar″chi– (�). [[L., archi-, Gr. αρχἰ-, a prefix which is from the same root as ἄρχειν to be first, to begin; αρχἠ the first place, beginning; αρχὄσ chief. Cf. AS. arce-, erce-, OHG. erzi-, G. erz-.]] A prefix signifying chief, arch; as, architect, archiepiscopal. In Biol. and Anat. it usually means primitive, original, ancestral; as, archipterygium, the primitive fin or wing.