- to bring before a law court to hear and answer charges
- to call to account; accuse
Origin of arraign
Middle English arreinen from Old French araisnier from Medieval Latin adrationare from Classical Latin ad, to + ratio, reason
verb
The definition of arraign is to bring a person in front of a judge to formally charge him with a crime and to record his response.
To accuse someone of a crime is an example of arraign.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"arraign." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 06 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/arraign>.
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arraign. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/arraign
arraign
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"arraign." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 06 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/arraign>.
APA Style
arraign. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/arraign
arraign
transitive verb
ar·raigned, ar·raign·ing, ar·raigns- Law To call (an accused person) before a criminal court to hear and answer the charge made against him or her.
- To call to account; accuse: “Johnson arraigned the modern politics of this country as entirely devoid of all principle” ( James Boswell )
Origin of arraign
Middle English arreinen from Old French araisnier from Vulgar Latin adratiōnāre to call to account Latin ad- ad- Latin ratiō ratiōn- account ; see reason .Related Forms:
- ar·raign′er
noun
- ar·raign′ment
noun
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"arraign." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 06 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/arraign>.
APA Style
arraign. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/arraign
Verb
(third-person singular simple present arraigns, present participle arraigning, simple past and past participle arraigned)
- To officially charge someone in a court of law.
- To call to account, or accuse, before the bar of reason, taste, or any other tribunal.
Origin
French arraisonner (to verify the cargo of a vessel or avion) , from raison
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"arraign." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 06 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/arraign>.
APA Style
arraign. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/arraign
Sentence Examples
- Each delegation has the right to formulate resolutions independently, and to call to account and arraign the common ministers.