| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| arson |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ar·son |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  är s n |
| NOUN: | The crime of maliciously, voluntarily, and willfully setting fire to the building, buildings, or other property of another or of burning one's own property for an improper purpose, as to collect insurance. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Anglo-Norman, from Late Latin  rsi , rsin-, from Latin rsus, past participle of rd re, to burn. See as- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | arson·ist —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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