Arest

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. An old term for a seizing or stopping of someone or something by authority ; to take hold of someone or something forcibly or to bring movement to a standstill
2. A dated word for the act of seizing or halting a person or thing ; to lay hold of something by force or to cause it to stop moving
3. Archaic for a holding or stopping by force or legal power ; an old verb meaning to seize a person or thing or to bring it to a sudden stop

Etymology: Before "arrest" settled into its modern spelling, English writers often wrote it "arest," a form borrowed from Old French "arest," a noun derived from the verb "arester." That verb came from Late Latin "arrestare," built from "ad-" ("to") and "restare," "to stay behind or remain." The original idea was of making something stop or stay where it is, and the legal sense of seizing someone came later. The Latin "restare" is also the ancestor of the "rest" meaning "what remains," as in "the rest of the apples." Through Old French "rester," it gave English "rest" in that sense, so "arrest" and the remainder-sense of "rest" are cousins, both descending from the idea of staying put. The "arest" spelling is now archaic, surviving mainly in older texts.

Synonyms: seizure, capture, detention

Antonyms: release