archaic or poetic term for wealth, riches, or valuable possessions; now rarely used except in historical or literary contexts.
From Old French 'riche' meaning 'rich' or 'wealth,' derived from Frankish 'riki' meaning 'powerful.' The word evolved to mean 'wealthy' and then metonymically to mean 'wealth itself' before becoming archaic.
This word is practically dead in modern English—you'd only encounter it in Shakespeare or medieval poetry—which shows how vocabulary constantly cycles as some words become treasures of the past while new ones emerge.
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