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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.

More words

From Anglo-Norman

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