Dictionary.com says of the word “arrive:”
1205, from O.Fr. ariver “to come to land,” from V.L. *arripare “to touch the shore,” from L. ad ripam “to the shore,” from ad “to” + ripa “shore,” with an original meaning of coming ashore after a long voyage. Sense of “to come to a position or state of mind” is from 1393.
Arrive. Dictionary.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. (c) Douglas Harper, Historian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Arrive (accessed: September 27, 2009).
I love etymology…
