An old or obscure term of uncertain meaning, possibly relating to a chief or primary settlement or enclosure.
Likely from 'arche-' (chief) combined with 'gay' or 'gai' (Old Norse for enclosure or dwelling). This appears to be an extremely rare or obsolete term with unclear historical usage.
This might be one of the rarest English words ever recorded—it appears in only the oldest dictionaries and its exact meaning has been lost to time, making it a linguistic fossil!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.