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.
Ms. Torghele recounts how, upon their arrival at Ellis Island in 1921, immigrants were scrutinized for signs of disease.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 21, 2026
The directive advises officers arriving at a scene to assess whether a dog may be present and reminds them their main concern upon arrival is “safety.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2026
The consumer’s arrival was heralded on Wall Street in 1906 by the $40 million IPO of Sears, Roebuck, whose mail-order catalog brought store goods to even isolated rural homes.
From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026
The Tartans arrival on the Scottish sports scene was greeted with scepticism from several people involved with grassroots American football, but IAL management insisted it was a long-term project.
From BBC • Jun. 16, 2026
The Plain Dealer eagerly anticipated Leah’s arrival: “There are to be rapping times in Cleveland this week.”
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
