Arles

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A historic town in southern France on the Rhône river, known for its Roman ruins ; an archaic term for a deposit given to seal a bargain
2. An ancient city in the south of France beside the Rhône, famous for Roman monuments ; an old word for earnest money handed over to confirm a deal
3. A Provençal city on the Rhône with well-preserved Roman remains ; a dated term for a payment made in advance to bind an agreement

Etymology: "Arles" is a Scots word for a deposit paid to seal a bargain, such as a sum given to a servant to bind a hiring agreement or a payment made when a sale is agreed. Its path runs from Latin "arrha", which meant a pledge or earnest money, through Old French "erres", still the French word "arrhes" today, and into Middle English as "erles". Scots kept the form "arles", which is why it survives in that regional sense. The Latin root points back to a Semitic source. Scholars generally connect "arrha" to a Hebrew or Aramaic word for a pledge, a link that explains why the idea of earnest money was so tightly bound to the notion of a binding promise. Once a buyer handed over a small sum, the deal was considered sealed, and the word simply named that handover.