Standard Lemma guide

arraignment

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /əˈɹeɪnmənt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: ER0 EY1 N M AH0 N T Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The formal charging of a defendant with an offense; in many jurisdictions it includes their response in the form of a plea, typically as guilty, not guilty, or no contest.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: law

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a legal document calling someone to court to answer an indictment

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: legal document, legal instrument, official document, instrument

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English arraign Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥ Proto-Indo-European *-mn̥tom Proto-Italic *-mentom Latin -mentum Old French -mentbor. Middle English -ment English -ment English arraignment From arraign + -ment.

Across languages

Translations

19 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: aanklag — charging of a defendant
  • Chinese Mandarin: 傳訊 /传讯 (chuánxùn) — charging of a defendant
  • Dutch: voorgeleiding — charging of a defendant
  • Finnish: syytteenluku — charging of a defendant
  • French: lecture de l'acte d'accusation — charging of a defendant
  • German: Anklage — charging of a defendant
  • German: Anklageverlesung — charging of a defendant
  • Hungarian: vádemelés — charging of a defendant
  • Japanese: 罪状認否 (zaijō nimpi) — charging of a defendant
  • Japanese: アレインメント (areinmento) — charging of a defendant
  • Norwegian: tiltale — charging of a defendant
  • Portuguese: processo — charging of a defendant
  • Russian: предъявле́ние обвине́ния (predʺjavlénije obvinénija) — charging of a defendant
  • Spanish: acusación — charging of a defendant
  • Spanish: orden de comparecencia — charging of a defendant
  • Swedish: anklagelse — charging of a defendant
  • Tagalog: pagbasa ng sakdal — charging of a defendant
  • Turkish: itham — charging of a defendant
  • Turkish: suçlama — charging of a defendant