arraign
uh-RAYN · verb
LatinOld FrenchAnglo-NormanMiddle EnglishEnglish
Origin
Arraign comes from Middle English areynen, via Anglo-Norman areiner and Old French araisnier, meaning to speak to or accuse in court, ultimately from Vulgar Latin *arratiōnāre — ad- ('to') plus a form of ratiō, 'reason, reckoning.' It first appears in English in the late 14th century.
Journey
The word entered English as a term for formally accusing someone in a legal setting, staying close to its Old French sense of 'to speak to, to accuse.' By the 16th century, English speakers had added a 'g' into the spelling by hypercorrection, though the word's meaning stayed rooted in law.
Related words
It's a doublet of areason, meaning the two words trace back to the same Latin root but arrived in English by separate paths.