archaic words and meanings in the King James Bible

From the first page of 2 Thessalonians in the first edition of 1611.

The King James Bible (KJV) of 1611, aka the Authorized Version (AV), uses some 12,000 different words. By one count in 2019, about 300 words have become outdated or unclear.

Some of the more common ones (and some others I have wondered about):

1. Achaia – a Roman province covering southern Greece
2. Ahasuerus – Xerxes
3. amazed – terrified, fearful
4. Armageddon – Greek name for Megiddo, a strategic town on the road between Egypt and Babylonia
5. array – to clothe; line up for battle
6. art – are (as in “thou art”)
7. bowels – the inside of anything – and thus one’s (deep) feelings
8. brethren – brothers
9. brimstone – sulphur
10. careful – full of care, not necessarily caution
11. Chaldea – southern Mesopotamia, famous for its astrologers.
12. chapiter – head of a column
13. charger – a large platter
14. charity – love, a common translation of the Greek word agape.
15. cherubim – the second-lowest of the nine kinds of angels
16. Christ = Messiah
17. coast – border
18. concubine – a lesser wife
19. conversation – behaviour
20. corn – grain, usually wheat. Never maize.
21. creature – any created being, not necessarily an animal
22. cubit – about 18 inches or half a metre
23. damsel – a young unmarried woman or a girl
24. divers – diverse, various, different
25. dost – do
26. doth – does
27. ensample – example
28. ere – before
29. Ethiopia – the country just south of Ancient Egypt, aka Cush, the Kushite Empire, Nubia.
30. fain – gladly
31. faint – lose confidence
32. Feast of Tabernacles or Booths – the Jewish holiday of Succoth, on 15 Tishri in early autumn.
33. flux – dysentery
34. fornication – any sort of sex outside of marriage (adultery, prostitution, homosexuality, etc)
35. froward – perverse, difficult
36. furlong – about 180 metres or an eighth of a mile
37. gat – got
38. girdle – belt
39. gopher wood – possibly cedar or cypress wood. Had nothing to do with gophers, unknown to the English-speaking world till 1812.
40. handmaid – personal female servant
41. haply – by chance
42. harlot – whore
43. heathen – Gentile, goy, not Jewish or Christian
44. hence – from this time or place
45. husbandman – farmer
46. instant – urgent
47. Israel – can mean just the northern kingdom of Israelites, aka Samaria. The Bible is told from the point of view of Judah, the southern kingdom.
48. issue – flow of blood
49. Jehovah – Yahweh, the god of the Bible
50. kine – cows
51. legion – 3,000 to 5,000
52. LORD – when in ALL CAPS (or small caps), the Hebrew has YHWH (Yahweh, Jehovah)
53. manger – trough for feeding animals
54. meat – food
55. palsy – paralysis
56. penny – a denarius, a silver Roman coin of 3.9 grams, worth a day’s pay
57. peradventure – maybe, perhaps
58. quicken – bring to life
59. raiment – clothing
60. Samaritan – from Samaria, north of Jerusalem. Hated by Jews.
61. scrip – small travelling bag
62. savour – taste
63. sepulchre – tomb, grave
64. severally – separately
65. shambles – slaughterhouse
66. shekel – 11 grams. A silver coin of this weight.
67. shittim wood – acacia wood.
68. simple – lacking knowledge, guilt, deceit
69. stay – support, hold up
70. suffer – allow
71. tabernacle – tent, dwelling
72. talent – 21 kg of silver, a huge amount of money
73. thee – you (singular)
74. thence – from that place or time
75. thine – your
76. thither – there, to there
77. thou – you (singular)
78. thy – your
79. tresspass – sin, trangress
80. usury – interest on money
81. verily – truly, really
82. victuals – supply of food
83. want – lacking in
84. whence – from what place
85. wise – way or manner
86. wist – knew
87. wit – know
88. withal – therewith or with
89. without – outside
90. wot – know
91. ye – you all, you guys, you (plural)
92. yea – yes

– Abagond, 2021.

Source: mainly Preserved Words, Etymology Online, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon).

See also:

• English Bible translations
  • Authorized Version
    • The English of the King James Bible
    • Money in the New Testament
  • NKJV
• Early Modern English
• Words Shakespeare used that are no longer common

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