arrival
Americannoun
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the act or time of arriving
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a person or thing that arrives or has arrived
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the reaching of a condition or objective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of arrival
1350–1400; arrive + -al 2; replacing Middle English arivaille < Middle French
Explanation
An arrival is an entrance or an appearance — the act of showing up somewhere. Your arrival at your grandparents' house will no doubt be marked by great enthusiasm and many hugs. The process of arriving, or first getting to your destination, is arrival. Your sister's arrival at the airport might be delayed by bad weather, and your new kitten's arrival will be an exciting event for your whole family. Another kind of arrival is a person who's just arrived: "I easily picked her out from all the bus station arrivals."
Vocabulary lists containing arrival
List 3
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -al, -ial
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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.
It still is, making this month’s arrival of the long-awaited movie sequel “Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender” feel especially fortuitous.
From Salon • Jul. 8, 2026
The arrival of a central midfielder will lead to the sale of a current player in the same position, with Denmark's Christian Norgaard, 32, someone the club will listen to offers for.
From BBC • Jul. 8, 2026
The airline added that Rousseau’s retirement begins in August, but that he would be available to advise the executive committee through the transition until Van der Werff’s arrival.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 8, 2026
Just ahead of Harry's arrival, Buckingham Palace contradicted the duke's team to say that he would not be staying at the palace after missing a deadline to accept the accommodation offer.
From Barron's • Jul. 7, 2026
I never dreamed that she’d telephone them to announce my arrival.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
