indictment

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ɪnˈdaɪt.mənt/ See IPA manual

Freq #12064

Meanings

1

noun
A formal legal charge accusing someone of a serious crime.

The grand jury returned a criminal indictment against the former official.
2

noun
A strong sign that something is bad or has failed; a harsh criticism.

The report was a damning indictment of the company's safety record.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a formal legal charge... bill of indictment

Word family

Forms indictments

Derived forms nonindictmentpostindictment

Related forms arraignment plea pleading

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

murder indictment
a formal accusation charging someone with murder

Noun + noun

Etymology

18th-century Latinized respelling of Middle English endytement (“action of accusing”), from Anglo-Norman enditement, from enditer, from Late Latin indictāre, from Latin indictus.

endytement Middle English enditement xno indictō la-lat indictus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives Register & Style

External links

# indictment

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɪnˈdaɪt.mənt/
**Frequency rank:** 12064

## Meanings
1. A formal legal charge accusing someone of a serious crime.
2. A strong sign that something is bad or has failed; a harsh criticism.

## Examples
- The grand jury returned a criminal indictment against the former official.
- The report was a damning indictment of the company's safety record.

## Derived Forms
- nonindictment
- postindictment

## Related Forms
- arraignment
- plea
- pleading

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: endytement
- Root: enditement
- Root: indictō
- Root: indictus

## Etymology
18th-century Latinized respelling of Middle English endytement (“action of accusing”), from Anglo-Norman enditement, from enditer, from Late Latin indictāre, from Latin indictus.

## AI Etymology
Indictment is a 18th-century Latinized respelling of Middle English endytement (“action of accusing”), from Anglo-Norman enditement, from enditer, from Late Latin indictāre, from Latin indictus. The historical chain includes endytement (Middle English), enditement (Anglo-Norman), indictō (Late Latin), and indictus (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as nonindictment and postindictment and related forms such as arraignment, plea, and pleading. In present use it covers a formal legal charge accusing someone of a serious crime and a strong sign that something is bad or has failed; a harsh criticism.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- Register & Style

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