arraign
Americanverb (used with object)
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arraigns,
present (3rd person singular)
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arraigned,
past participle, past
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arraigning
present participle
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Law. to call or bring before a court to answer to an indictment, a formal charge for which it has been ascertained that there is enough evidence to warrant trial.
He is scheduled to be arraigned this morning on drug and gun charges.
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to accuse or charge in general; criticize; censure.
I am not arraigning Professor Wells for these omissions, only mentioning them to indicate how complex such questions can be.
verb
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to bring (a prisoner) before a court to answer an indictment
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to call to account; complain about; accuse
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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arraignsimple
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arraignssimple
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have arraignedperfect
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has arraignedperfect
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am arraigningprogressive
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are arraigningprogressive
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is arraigningprogressive
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have been arraigningperfect progressive
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has been arraigningperfect progressive
Past
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arraignedsimple
-
had arraignedperfect
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was arraigningprogressive
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were arraigningprogressive
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had been arraigningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of arraign
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English arainen, from Anglo-French arainer, Old French araisnier, equivalent to a- a- 5 + raisnier, from unrecorded Vulgar Latin ratiōnāre “to talk, reason”; see ratio
Explanation
To arraign someone is to call the person before a court of law to be charged. You've probably seen it in movies. It's the part where an official charge is read and the accused responds by saying "guilty" or "not guilty." Arraign comes from Old French, but it traces back to the Latin ad, meaning “to,” and ration, meaning “reason or account.” So if you arraign someone, it’s like you're presenting an account — a record — of the thing the person has done wrong. You're outlining a formal charge in court. Arraign can also be used more broadly to describe any accusation of wrongdoing.
Vocabulary lists containing arraign
The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
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Othello
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
O’Connor said federal law and rules of criminal procedure “require this Court to publicly arraign Boeing and permit the crime victims’ representatives to be heard at or in advance of the proceeding.”
From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2023
In most circumstances, prosecutors have 48 hours to arraign a person in custody, said Louis Shapiro, a well-known defense lawyer in California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 18, 2022
The prosecutor noted the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic could put a snag in efforts to arraign Schulte on the new charges and start his retrial as soon as possible, however.
From Washington Times ● May 30, 2020
Hägglund wants to arraign capitalism for a similar asceticism.
From The New Yorker ● May 13, 2019
Verily, these were days when men feared not to arraign and punish—unlucky times for tyrants and traitors!
From No Quarter! by Mayne Reid
It loosely and libelously arraigns Canada Packers Ltd.,
From Time Magazine Archive
Amid echoes of the ominous thunderclap of the Faubus election victory in Arkansas, Author Dabbs speaks in a deceptively small voice, but arraigns himself no less harshly than his neighbors.
From Time Magazine Archive
Clummerhorn has the cars towed to his garage, lodges the young people in his hotel, arraigns them in his traffic court.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Are you guilty, or not guilty?" asked the clerk of arraigns of a prisoner the other day.
From The Jest Book The Choicest Anecdotes and Sayings by Mark Lemon
Shortly before five o’clock the usher brought a telegram from one of the jurors, and after it had been shown to the clerk of arraigns it was allowed to be despatched.
From The Trial of Oscar Wilde From the Shorthand Reports by Anonymous
Baby was arraigned Thursday and ordered held without bail.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
He hadn’t been arraigned by Friday evening, a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Wall appeared in court Monday and is scheduled to be arraigned July 1, according to officials.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
Juin was arraigned late Thursday and released on a $2 million bond.
From MarketWatch ● May 29, 2026
We were finally formally arraigned and all thirty of us pleaded not guilty.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
“It’s been arraigning — I mean, raining,” Mr. Conway tweeted.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 12, 2022
Dr Mehmood says there aren't enough police available to "handle all these cases efficiently and judiciously, without arraigning innocent people to complete paperwork and save their jobs".
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2020
It is hard to resist the conclusion that Garner, in full maternal mode, is arraigning him for not being more of a man.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 4, 2016
Another positive development involves arraigning and prosecuting poachers in courts in the main cities, which are considered less susceptible to corruption than their local counterparts.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 10, 2015
Swift to the shore she flies, complaining; The tempest to her pray'r is deaf; When lo! that orb she's so arraigning, Shines forth, and shows her lover safe.
From The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 6, June 1810 by S. C. (Stephen Cullen) Carpenter
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
