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arraign - 7 dictionary results

ar⋅raign

  [uh-reyn]
Use arraign in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to call or bring before a court to answer to an indictment.
2. to accuse or charge in general; criticize adversely; censure.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME arainen < AF arainer, OF araisnier, equiv. to a- a- 5 + raisnier < VL *ratiōnāre to talk, reason; see ratio

Related forms:
ar⋅raign⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ar·raign   (ə-rān')   
tr.v.   ar·raigned, ar·raign·ing, ar·raigns
  1. Law To call (an accused person) before a court to answer the charge made against him or her by indictment, information, or complaint.
  2. To call to account; accuse: "Johnson arraigned the modern politics of this country as entirely devoid of all principle" (James Boswell).

[Middle English arreinen, from Old French araisnier, from Vulgar Latin *adratiōnāre, to call to account : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin ratiō, ratiōn-, account; see reason.]
ar·raign'er n., ar·raign'ment n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Arraign

Ar*raign"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Arraigned; p. pr. & vb. n. Arraigning.] [OE. arainen, arenen, OF. aragnier, aranier, araisnier, F. arraisonner, fr. LL. arrationare to address to call before court; L. ad + ratio reason, reasoning, LL. cause, judgment. See Reason.]

1. (Law) To call or set as a prisoner at the bar of a court to answer to the matter charged in an indictment or complaint. --Blackstone.

2. To call to account, or accuse, before the bar of reason, taste, or any other tribunal.

They will not arraign you for want of knowledge. --Dryden.

It is not arrogance, but timidity, of which the Christian body should now be arraigned by the world. --I. Taylor.

Syn: To accuse; impeach; charge; censure; criminate; indict; denounce. See Accuse.

Arraign

Ar*raign"\, n. Arraignment; as, the clerk of the arraigns. --Blackstone. Macaulay.

Arraign

Ar*raign"\, v. t. [From OF. aramier, fr. LL. adhramire.] (Old Eng. Law) To appeal to; to demand; as, to arraign an assize of novel disseizin.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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arraign 
c.1325, "to call to account," from O.Fr. araisnier, from L. adrationare, from ad- "to" + ratio "argumentation, reckoning, calculation." Sense of "to call up on a criminal charge" is c.1400.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: ar·raign
Pronunciation: &-'rAn
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Anglo-French arrainer, from Old French araisnier to address, call to account, from a-, prefix stressing goal of an action + raisnier to speak
: to bring (a defendant) before a judge or magistrate to hear the charges and to plead usually either guilty or not guilty —compare INDICT
NOTE: For a person to be formally arraigned, he or she must be called by name before a judge or magistrate. The judge or magistrate makes sure that the defendant is the person named in the complaint, indictment, or information, which is then read to formally notify the defendant of the charges. The defendant may then enter a plea of guilty, not guilty, or another plea allowed by law such as nolo contendere. In some cases, as when the defendant is not yet represented by a lawyer, the judge or magistrate may enter a plea of not guilty on the defendant's behalf. —ar·raign·ment noun
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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