arrival
Americannoun
-
the act or time of arriving
-
a person or thing that arrives or has arrived
-
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.
See Examples For:
Matthews said the Mancot site "possibly" originated in the Iron Age period, before the arrival of the Romans, and "continued to have successive occupation for a very long period of time".
From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026
It’s Thursday and Jerry Coats is awaiting the arrival of his niece, Angela McDow.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 7, 2026
In preparation for their arrival, Zoo Atlanta has renovated its panda facilities and assembled a team of animal caretakers.
From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2026
With Harding’s arrival, the LA Phil has announced a new shared leadership model that represents a departure from the 17 seasons under Dudamel, who served as both music and artistic director.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
They were still gaping open from my arrival.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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The first arrivals found little more than bare plots, without roads, running water or electricity.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
Meanwhile, religious groups and nongovernment organizations were chipping in money and support for the new arrivals.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
Flight records reviewed by AFP show repeated arrivals at Taura by US military aircraft, including C-130 Hercules and C-17 Globemaster transport planes, V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters.
From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026
While stalwarts like Golden Corral, the national chain with roughly 350 U.S. locations, cater to the budget-minded masses, the buffetscape contains smaller businesses and newer arrivals that have become favorites in their own right.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
As Gwydion had foretold, the rest of the morning brought many new arrivals.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.