arraignment
UK[əˈreɪnmənt]US[əˈreɪnmənt]
n
The legal act of formally calling someone before a court to hear the charges against them and to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty.
n
A strong or severe criticism or accusation.
Morpheme Breakdown
arraign
ment
arraign
to call to account
ment
Etymology
The word 'arraignment' originates from the Anglo-French legal term 'araisnement', meaning 'to call to account'. This, in turn, derives from the Vulgar Latin 'adratiōnāre', a compound of the Latin prefix 'ad-' (to, towards) and 'ratiō' (reason, account, calculation). The core concept is thus one of bringing someone before reason or judgment. Over centuries in English law, this general sense of calling to account specialized into the formal court procedure where a defendant is brought before a judge, informed of the charges, and asked to plead, capturing the process of initiating a reasoned legal argument against an accused party.
Analysis
Structure: arraign + ment
arraign: From Anglo-French/Latin origin, meaning 'to call to account'. Functions as the core verb root.
ment: From Latin via Old French, a noun-forming suffix indicating an action, process, or resulting state.
Examples
The suspect's arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow morning in district court.
His speech was a powerful arraignment of the government's environmental policies.
After the arrest, there is typically a brief period before the formal arraignment.