Arcis, Latin word?

[Przibram]

Hello,

The Etymological Dictionary of Latin and other Italic Languages (de Vaan, 2008) informs that "arx, arcis" means citadel, stronghold, possibly from Proto-Italic *ark-'a (building). Gaffiot says "arcī, v. arcus." Also meton. height. Not sure there are other sources that could confirm if "arx, arcis" is a native Latin word or imported into Latin. Any advice is welcome

Rgs

PZ

 

[Avunculus H]

de Vaan puts arx together with arceo, which he sees derived from a Indo-European root *h2erk(')- "hold". So it's not a loan; the only question for him is whether the root noun with the meaning "building" is of Indo-European or Proto-Italian age or was only formed in Latin. As far as I know, de Vaan is the most up-to-date etymological dictionary of Latin, so if there are no more recent papers on that topic out there, this is about the last word you'll get on this matter from a historical linguist.
arci is something different - an irregular plural to arcus "bow, arch", which is normally an u-stem with the plural arcūs. Acccording to de Vaan, arx and arcus are not related.

 

[Przibram]

Thank you.