indict

C2+ Topic:Crime & Justice

US /ɪnˈdaɪt/ UK /ɪnˈdaɪt/ See IPA manual

Homophones

indite /ˌɪnˈdaɪt/

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to formally charge someone with a serious crime

The grand jury voted to indict the financier on fraud charges.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to formally charge someone... charge accuse arraign impeach prosecute incriminate

Opposites

acquit exonerate absolve exculpate

Word family

Derived forms indictmentindictableindictee

Related forms indictment indite dictate diction

Etymology

From Anglo-French enditer ('to accuse'), from Vulgar Latin *indictare ('to declare, accuse'), from Latin in- ('toward') + dictare ('to say repeatedly, dictate'), frequentative of dicere ('to say'). Spelling later latinized.

dictare Latin dicere Latin *deyḱ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Crime & Justice

# indict

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ɪnˈdaɪt
**IPA (UK):** ɪnˈdaɪt

## Meanings
1. to formally charge someone with a serious crime

## Examples
- The grand jury voted to indict the financier on fraud charges.

## Synonyms
- charge
- accuse
- arraign
- impeach
- prosecute
- incriminate

## Antonyms
- acquit
- exonerate
- absolve
- exculpate

## Derived Forms
- indictment
- indictable
- indictee

## Related Forms
- indictment
- indite
- dictate
- diction

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dictare
- Root: dicere
- Root: *deyḱ-

## Etymology
From Anglo-French enditer ('to accuse'), from Vulgar Latin *indictare ('to declare, accuse'), from Latin in- ('toward') + dictare ('to say repeatedly, dictate'), frequentative of dicere ('to say'). Spelling later latinized.

## AI Etymology
indict comes from Anglo-French enditer ('to accuse'), from Vulgar Latin *indictare ('to declare, accuse'), from Latin in- ('toward') + dictare ('to say repeatedly, dictate'), frequentative of dicere ('to say'). Spelling later latinized. The path is chiefly one of transmission: the word passes through the named languages and forms, with each stage preserving part of the modern shape. In present English, the verb sense is "to formally charge someone with a serious crime", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as indictment, indite, dictate, and diction, and in derivatives such as indictment, indictable, and indictee. Its semantic neighborhood includes charge, accuse, arraign, and impeach, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin dictare, Latin dicere, and Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ-.

## Topics
- Crime & Justice

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