Meaning:

• Beginning
• First
• Elementary
• Rulers, rule, domain

Noun, feminine (first declension)

Occurs 56 times in the New Testament, consistently conveying the idea of primacy - whether temporal (i.e. the start, e.g. John 1:1plugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigJohn 1:1

Greek Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν, καὶ θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. ESV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. NIV In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. NLT In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.) or causal (i.e. the source) or governmental (i.e. the ruler, e.g. Ephesians 6:12plugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigEphesians 6:12

Greek ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἡ πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχάς, πρὸς τὰς ἐξουσίας, πρὸς τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τούτου, πρὸς τὰ πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις. ESV For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.…).