Meanings
present singular third person arraigns · participle present arraigning · participle past arraigned · past arraigned
- with on(archaic) forTo officially charge someone in a court of law.
He was arraigned in Washington, D.C., on the 25th of that month on charges of treason.
1 more example
He will then be arraigned, at which point the specific charges will be unsealed.
2023 March 30, Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich, William K. Rashbaum, Kate Christobek, Nate Schweber, “Trump Is Indicted, Becoming First Ex-President to Face Criminal Charges”, in The New York Times, →ISSNSynonyms: appeach, inculpate, indict, accriminate, accuse, appeach, becry, tax
- To call to account, or accuse, before the bar of reason, taste, or any other tribunal.
They will not dare to arraign you for want of knowledge.
1697, Virgil, “(please specify the book number)”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC1 more example
It is not arrogance, but timidity, of which the Christian body should now be arraigned by the world.
1832, [Isaac Taylor], Saturday Evening. […], London: Holdsworth and Ball, →OCLC
plural arraigns
- Arraignment.
the clerk of the arraigns
1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC1 more example
The clerk of the arraigns stood up
1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo officially charge someone in a court of law.
Origin
- Old Frencharraigner
- Old Frencharagnier
- Latinadratiōnāre
- Vulgar Latin*arratiōnāre
- Old Frencharaisnier
- Anglo-Normanareiner
- Middle Englishareynen“to interrogate, arraign, reprimand”
- Englisharraign
From Middle English areynen (“to interrogate, arraign, reprimand”), from Anglo-Norman areiner, arener, from Old French araisnier, areisnier, aresnier (“to speak to, address; accuse (in a law court)”) (whence modern French arraisonner (“to verify cargo, to arraign”)), from Vulgar Latin *arratiōnāre, from Latin adratiōnāre, from ad (“to”) + *ratiōnāre (“to reason, talk reasonably, talk”), from ratiō (“reason, reasoning, discourse”), from rat-, past-participle stem of rērī (“to reckon, calculate”). First attested in the late 14th century. Doublet of areason. About the -g- within the word, Etymonline and the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary both agree that it is present by hypercorrection and appears since the 16th century. The Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (1986) however, provides two etymological links each, which are Old French aragnier and araigner. The Oxford English Dictionary (1885, 1989) did not support either of these hypotheses, but did attribute Old French arraigner, arainer to an unrelated obsolete sense and etymon.
More words from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans aankla
- aanklacharge someone in a court of law
Bengali অভিযুক্ত করা
- অভিযুক্ত করা (obhijukto kora)charge someone in a court of law
Bulgarian призовавам на съд
- призовавам на съд (prizovavam na săd)charge someone in a court of law
Czech obžalovat, obvinit
- obžalovatcharge someone in a court of law
- obvinitcharge someone in a court of law
Danish sigte
- sigtecharge someone in a court of law
Dutch in staat van beschuldiging stellen
- in staat van beschuldiging stellencharge someone in a court of law
Finnish syyttää
- syyttäächarge someone in a court of law
French traduire en justice, accuser
- traduire en justicecharge someone in a court of law
- accusercharge someone in a court of law
German anklagen, vor Gericht bringen
- anklagencharge someone in a court of law
- vor Gericht bringencharge someone in a court of law
Hungarian vádat emel, vád alá helyez
- vádat emelcharge someone in a court of law
- vád alá helyezcharge someone in a court of law
- bíróság elé állítcharge someone in a court of law
- vádolcharge someone in a court of law
- bevádolcharge someone in a court of law
Italian imputare
- imputarecharge someone in a court of law
Portuguese processar
- processarcharge someone in a court of law
Russian привлека́ть к суду́, привле́чь к суду́
- привлека́ть к суду́ (privlekátʹ k sudú)charge someone in a court of law
- привле́чь к суду́ (privléčʹ k sudú)charge someone in a court of law
- предъявля́ть обвине́ние (predʺjavljátʹ obvinénije)charge someone in a court of law
- предъяви́ть обвине́ние (predʺjavítʹ obvinénije)charge someone in a court of law
- обвиня́ть (obvinjátʹ)charge someone in a court of law
- обвини́ть (obvinítʹ)charge someone in a court of law
Slovak obžalovať, obviniť
- obžalovaťcharge someone in a court of law
- obviniťcharge someone in a court of law
Spanish acusar
- acusarcharge someone in a court of law
Swedish bringa inför rätta, ställa inför rätta
- bringa inför rättacharge someone in a court of law
- ställa inför rättacharge someone in a court of law
Turkish itham etmek, mahkemeye çağırmak
- itham etmekcharge someone in a court of law
- mahkemeye çağırmakcharge someone in a court of law
- suçlamakcharge someone in a court of law
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with arraign
Anagrams
Cite this entry
arraign. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arraign
“arraign.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arraign. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “arraign,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arraign.
Source: arraign on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.