arraignment

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/əˈɹeɪnmənt/

noun

The formal charging of a defendant with an offense; in many jurisdictions it includes their response in the form of a plea, typically as guilty, not guilty, or no contest.

Less commonScrabble 14
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Meanings

nounarraignment (countable and uncountable, plural arraignments)

plural arraignments

  1. countableuncountablelawThe formal charging of a defendant with an offense; in many jurisdictions it includes their response in the form of a plea, typically as guilty, not guilty, or no contest.

    […]— the indictment will remain sealed until his expected arraignment on Tuesday, when the charges will be formally revealed.

    2023 March 30, William K. Rashbaum, “This is what will happen when Trump is arrested in the coming days.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
    1 more example

    This process, Mr. Rothfeld said, could be interrupted at any moment if prosecutors in Los Angeles successfully extradite him for an arraignment on the sexual assault charges there.

    2020 March 11, Jan Ransom, “Harvey Weinstein’s Stunning Downfall: 23 Years in Prison”, in New York Times

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
denunciation

Origin

From arraign + -ment.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans aanklag
  • aanklagcharging of a defendant
Chinese Mandarin 傳訊 /传讯
  • 傳訊 /传讯 (chuánxùn)charging of a defendant
Dutch voorgeleiding
  • voorgeleidingcharging of a defendant
Finnish syytteenluku
  • syytteenlukucharging of a defendant
French lecture de l'acte d'accusation
  • lecture de l'acte d'accusationcharging of a defendant
German Anklage, Anklageverlesung
  • Anklagecharging of a defendant
  • Anklageverlesungcharging of a defendant
Hungarian vádemelés
  • vádemeléscharging of a defendant
Japanese 罪状認否, アレインメント
  • 罪状認否 (zaijō nimpi)charging of a defendant
  • アレインメント (areinmento)charging of a defendant
Norwegian tiltale
  • tiltalecharging of a defendant
Portuguese processo
  • processocharging of a defendant
Russian предъявле́ние обвине́ния
  • предъявле́ние обвине́ния (predʺjavlénije obvinénija)charging of a defendant
Spanish acusación, orden de comparecencia
  • acusacióncharging of a defendant
  • orden de comparecenciacharging of a defendant
Swedish anklagelse
  • anklagelsecharging of a defendant
Tagalog pagbasa ng sakdal
  • pagbasa ng sakdalcharging of a defendant
Turkish itham, suçlama
  • ithamcharging of a defendant
  • suçlamacharging of a defendant
Cite this entry
APA

arraignment. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arraignment

MLA

“arraignment.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arraignment. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “arraignment,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/arraignment.

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