arrear

English

Etymology

From Old French arere, ariere, from Vulgar Latin ad retro (“to the rear”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /əˈɹɪə/
• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Adverb

arrear (comparative more arrear, superlative most arrear)

1. (obsolete) Towards the rear, backwards. [14th-16th c.]
   • 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 [...].

2. (obsolete) Behind time; overdue. [15th-19th c.]
   • 1803, Edward Hyde East, Reports of cases Argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench, London 1814, vol. 3, p. 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)

1. Work to be done, obligation.

   I have a large arrear of letters to write. -- J. D. Forbes.

   My own work, with its manifold arrears, took me all day to clear off. -- Stoker, Dracula

2. Unpaid debt.

Translations

work to be done

• French: arriéré (fr)

• Italian: arretrato (it)

unpaid debt

• French: arriéré (fr)

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Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA: /areˈaɾ/

Verb

arrear (first-person singular present arreo, first-person singular preterite arreé, past participle arreado)

1. to urge
2. to harness

Conjugation

    Conjugation of arrear (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			arrear
gerund			arreando
past participle			arreado
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú	él/ella usted	nosotros	vosotros	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	arreo	arreas	arrea	arreamos	arreáis	arrean
	imperfect	arreaba	arreabas	arreaba	arreábamos	arreabais	arreaban
	preterite	arreé	arreaste	arreó	arreamos	arreasteis	arrearon
	future	arrearé	arrearás	arreará	arrearemos	arrearéis	arrearán
	conditional	arrearía	arrearías	arrearía	arrearíamos	arrearíais	arrearían
subjunctive		yo	tú	él/ella usted	nosotros	vosotros	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	arree	arrees	arree	arreemos	arreéis	arreen
	imperfect (ra)	arreara	arrearas	arreara	arreáramos	arrearais	arrearan
	imperfect (se)	arrease	arreases	arrease	arreásemos	arreaseis	arreasen
	future	arreare	arreares	arreare	arreáremos	arreareis	arrearen
imperative		—	tú	usted	nosotros	vosotros	ustedes
	affirmative		arrea	arree	arreemos	arread	arreen
	negative		no arrees	no arree	no arreemos	no arreéis	no arreen