Arraignings

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. To call someone before a court to answer a charge, particularly in a formal legal context; to accuse or bring someone to account for their actions or conduct; the process of formally indicting an individual in a legal proceeding to determine guilt or innocence
2. The act of summoning an accused person to court to respond to charges, which may involve stating the nature of the accusations; the formal alleging of wrongdoing against an individual in a judicial setting; the procedure through which a defendant is called to answer to a complaint or allegation in a courtroom
3. Involvement in the legal process where an individual is presented in court to face charges, entailing a declaration of the accusations; the formal charge of a crime brought against a person during a judicial proceeding; the legal act of presenting someone to answer for their alleged offenses in front of a judge

Etymology: "Arraignings" is the plural of "arraigning," the gerund-like noun form of the verb "arraign," so it names repeated instances of the act. The verb traces back to Old French "araisnier," which meant to call someone before a court to answer a charge, and that French word is itself rooted in Latin "ad-" (to) plus a term for the matter at hand. The English form appears in Middle English, when the legal procedure was already central to courts, so the plural simply counts each summons or formal accusation as a separate event.