What does aroint mean?
Aroint is an archaic English verb used as a forceful command meaning 'be gone!' or 'go away!'. It appears almost entirely within the vocabulary of Early Modern English, and its most famous occurrence comes from William Shakespeare's Macbeth, where a witch cries 'Aroint thee, witch!' after another complains of being refused chestnuts by a sailor's wife. The word carries a sharp, dismissive tone, typically directed at a person, animal, or even a troublesome spirit. Its origin remains uncertain: scholars have proposed connections to words such as 'rownd,' Old French phrases, or dialect forms, but no derivation has been conclusively established, which makes aroint something of an etymological puzzle. Today it survives only in literary quotation, historical fiction, and playful pastiche of Shakespearean speech. Readers who meet it can safely interpret it as a colorful, antique way of ordering someone to leave — a verbal equivalent of 'shoo!' or 'begone!' that instantly evokes cauldrons, curses, and candlelit Elizabethan stages.
verbAn archaic imperative meaning 'be gone!' — used to order someone or something to go away.
- An archaic exclamation commanding someone or something to depart; 'begone.'
"'Aroint thee, witch!' the old man cried, waving his staff at the shadowy figure."
"'Aroint thee!' cried the farmer, driving the stray dog from his yard."
"In Macbeth, one witch declares, 'Aroint thee, witch!' as her sister complains of a sailor's wife who refused her chestnuts."
Shakespeare's three witches in Macbeth utter 'aroint thee' over their cauldron — and thanks to that one scene, this otherwise vanished word survives in English memory.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of aroint
The origin of aroint is genuinely uncertain, and lexicographers have long debated it. The word first appears in print in the early 17th century, most famously in Shakespeare's Macbeth, where the witches use it. Proposed derivations include links to the dialect word 'rownd,' to Old French expressions, and to other Germanic or Romance roots, but none has won general acceptance. It is sometimes spelled 'aroynt' in early texts, and its obscurity was noted as early as the 18th century, when editors of Shakespeare admitted they could not fully explain it.
Related word forms
How aroint is actually used
Strictly archaic and literary; found almost exclusively in quotations of Shakespeare's Macbeth and in deliberate pastiche of Early Modern English. It carries a forceful, dismissive connotation. Modern readers encounter it only in literature, so using it outside quotation or parody will read as deliberately quaint.
Easily confused with aroint
Anoint means to apply oil or ointment as part of a religious ceremony, while aroint is an obsolete command telling someone to be gone.