arraignment

Meanings

1. 1nouncountablelegallaw

   A court hearing where a criminal defendant is formally told the charges and asked to plead guilty or not guilty.

   Grammar: Countable: use 'an arraignment' or 'arraignments' for more than one.

   Patterns

   • at an arraignment
   • during the arraignment
   • an arraignment hearing
   • arraignment on charges

   The suspect will appear at an arraignment tomorrow morning.

   At the arraignment, she pleaded not guilty to all charges.

   The judge scheduled the arraignment for next week.

2. 2noununcountablelegallaw

   The formal act of bringing someone before a court to answer a criminal charge.

   Grammar: Uncountable when referring to the process in general: 'The arraignment of the accused took place quickly.'

   Patterns

   • the arraignment of someone
   • after arraignment

   The arraignment of the protesters drew a crowd outside the courthouse.

   After arraignment, the defendant was released on bail.

Word forms

Common combinations

initial arraignment

The initial arraignment is usually brief and procedural.

arraignment hearing

The arraignment hearing was postponed because the lawyer was ill.

waive arraignment

He chose to waive arraignment and go straight to trial.

at the arraignment

She remained silent at the arraignment.

following arraignment

Following arraignment, the case was assigned to a different judge.

Synonyms and how they differ

hearing

A general term for any court session; arraignment is a specific type of early hearing.

indictment

A formal accusation, often before an arraignment; it does not involve entering a plea.

Word family

arraign verb

To bring someone before a court to answer a charge.

arraigned adjective

Having been formally charged in court.

Commonly confused: arraignment or arrangement? arraignment or arraign?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “arraignment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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