From Middle English arere, from Old French arere, from Vulgar Latin *ad retro (literally “to the rear”).
Meanings
(obsolete) Towards the rear, backwards.
She, (Ladie) having well before approoved / The feends to be too cruell and severe, / Observ'd th' appointed way, as her behooved, / Ne ever did her ey-sight turne arere [...]. 1591, Edmund Spenser, Virgil's Gnat, ll. 465-8:
(obsolete) Behind time; overdue.
In case the annuity should be arrear for sixty days being lawfully demanded, then the trustee might enter upon the premises assigned [...]. 1803, Edward Hyde East, Reports of cases Argued and determined in the Court of King's Bench, volume 3, London, published 1814, page 559:
From Middle English arere, from Old French arere, from Vulgar Latin *ad retro (literally “to the rear”).
Meanings
Work to be done, obligation.
November 4, 1866, James David Forbes, letter to E. C. Batten
I have a large arrear of letters to write.
After World War II it took time to clear up the arrears of track maintenance on both lines and it was not until 1953 that the L.M.R. restored any two-hour schedules, the W.R. following suit a year later. 1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 98:
My own work, with its manifold arrears, took me all day to clear off. 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC:
Unpaid debt.
I know the debt is in arrears / The dog has not been fed in years / It's even worse than it appears, but / It's alright 1987, Grateful Dead, “Touch of Grey”, in In the Dark:
pl zaległości płatnicze (unpaid debt) · ru завал (work to be done) · ga riaráiste (unpaid debt) · es pago atrasado (unpaid debt) · hu restancia (work to be done) · hu elmaradás (work to be done) · es mora (unpaid debt) · fi rästi (work to be done) · it arretrato (work to be done) · mi utu tārewa (unpaid debt) · cs rest (work to be done) · hy ապառք (unpaid debt) · es atras; detras (rear part) · cs nedoplatek (unpaid debt) · fr arriéré (unpaid debt) · cs prodlení (unpaid debt) · nb ubetalt gjeld (unpaid debt) · nl achterstand (work to be done) · hu lemaradás (work to be done) · fi tekemätön työ (work to be done) · ru обязанность (work to be done) · es atrasos (unpaid debt) · de Rückstand (unpaid debt) · es deuda vencida (unpaid debt) · nb restanse (unpaid debt) · fi rästityö (work to be done) · tr bakiye (unpaid debt) · nl achterstallige betaling (unpaid debt) · pl tylna część (rear part) · sv efterskott (unpaid debt) · da (udestående, ubetalt) gæld (unpaid debt) · ru задолженность (unpaid debt) · nb betalingsetterskudd (unpaid debt) · de Zahlungsrückstand (unpaid debt) · ja 滞納 (unpaid debt) · nb utestående (unpaid debt) · hu hátralék (unpaid debt) · sv beting (work to be done) · pl zaległości (work to be done) · fr arriéré (work to be done) · sv bakläxa (work to be done) · pa ਬਾਕੀ (unpaid debt) · tr ödenmemiş borç (unpaid debt) · pt atrasdos (unpaid debt) · rif amerwas (unpaid debt) · fi erääntynyt velka (unpaid debt) · yue 拖欠 (unpaid debt) · fi verojäämä (unpaid debt) · hu elmaradás (unpaid debt)