arrêt

noun

A formal sentence of the King or Parliament of France; hence, a decree, a ruling.

OriginFrench arrêt →
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Meanings

nounarrêt (plural arrêts)

plural arrêts · alternative arret

  1. historicalA formal sentence of the King or Parliament of France; hence, a decree, a ruling.

    His father now shewed him an arret, which, on the fourth of June, 1776, he had obtained from the parliament of Rouen against his marriage.

    1790, Helen Maria Williams, Letters Written in France, Broadview, published 2002, page 123
    1 more example

    “Prior Aymer,” said the Templar, “you are a man of gallantry, learned in the study of beauty, and as expert as a troubadour in all matters concerning the arrets of love;[…]”

    1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter II, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 39

Origin

  1. Frencharrêt
  2. Frencharrêt
  3. Englisharrêt

Unadapted borrowing from French arrêt.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

arrêt. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arr%C3%AAt

MLA

“arrêt.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arr%C3%AAt. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “arrêt,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arr%C3%AAt.

Source: arrêt on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.