Ar-rāign'1, v. t.
(ăr-rān'), v. t. [imp. & p. p. ARRAIGNED; p. pr. & vb. n. ARRAIGNING.] [O. Fr. aragnier, arainier, areisnier, arraisinier, areisoner, araisoner, arraisonner, Pr. arrazonar, L. Lat. arrationare, arraitionare, arraionare, to address, to call before court, from Lat. ad and L. Lat. rationare, to speak, O. Fr. raisner, from Lat. ratio, reason, reasoning, L. Lat. cause, judgment.]
Sense 1. (Law.) (a.) To call or set as a prisoner at the bar of a court to answer to the matter charged in an indictment or complaint. Blackstone. (b.) (O. Eng. Law.) To set in order; to fit for trial; as, to arraign a writ of novel disseizin.
Sense 2. To call in question, or accuse, before the bar of reason, taste, or any other tribunal.
They will not arraign you for want of knowledge. Dryden.
It is not arrogance, but timidity, of which the Christian body should now be arraigned by the world. L. Taylor.
To arraign the assize, to cause the demandant to be called to make the plaint, and set the cause in order, that the tenant may be brought to answer. Cowell.
Synonyms—To accuse; impeach; charge; censure. See ACCUSE.