A principal or chief house; a mansion or the most important building in a settlement.
From arch- (chief, principal, supreme) + house (a building for habitation). House comes from Old English hus, while arch- derives from Greek archi- meaning 'chief'.
Every town had an archhouse—it was often the castle, manor, or great hall that gave the community its identity and where major decisions happened, making it not just a building but the physical embodiment of a community's power structure.
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