arraignment

C2+ Topic:Abstract Ideas

US /əˈreɪnmənt/ UK /əˈreɪnmənt/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
the formal court proceeding in which an accused is read the charges and pleads

The defendant pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Monday.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the formal court proceeding... indictment charge accusation prosecution

Word family

Related forms arraign reason rationarraigner

Etymology

From arraign (from Old French araisnier 'to call to account', from Vulgar Latin *arrationare, from Latin ad- and ratio 'reckoning, reason') plus the noun suffix -ment.

araisnier Old French ratio Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Abstract Ideas Word Formation & Derivatives Register & Style

External links

# arraignment

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /əˈreɪnmənt/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈreɪnmənt/

## Meanings
1. the formal court proceeding in which an accused is read the charges and pleads

## Examples
- The defendant pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Monday.

## Synonyms
- indictment
- charge
- accusation
- prosecution

## Related Forms
- arraign
- reason
- ration
- arraigner

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: araisnier
- Root: ratio

## Etymology
From arraign (from Old French araisnier 'to call to account', from Vulgar Latin *arrationare, from Latin ad- and ratio 'reckoning, reason') plus the noun suffix -ment.

## AI Etymology
arraignment comes from arraign (from Old French araisnier 'to call to account', from Vulgar Latin *arrationare, from Latin ad- and ratio 'reckoning, reason') plus the noun suffix -ment. Morphologically, the word is transparent: -ment is attached to the older base named in the history, so the modern form packages an inherited or borrowed stem inside a later English derivative. In modern use, the noun sense is "the formal court proceeding in which an accused is read the charges and pleads", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as arraign, reason, ration, arraigner, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Old French araisnier, Latin ratio, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- Abstract Ideas
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- Register & Style

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