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indictment

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Etymology and origin of the English word indictment

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1303, Mannyng
Borrowed from
Anglo-Norman enditement via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Latin dīcō

Pronunciation

  • US: /ɪnˈdaɪt.mənt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English enditement, also inditement,[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman enditement, also endictement,[5][6][3] from enditer (“to accuse, indict”),[5][6][3] the source of indict, with the suffix -ment.[7][4] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from the early 13th century for a statement and for a formal charge or the document containing it.[8] The verb answers to a Vulgar Latin *indictō (“to declare, accuse, proclaim in writing”), from in- (“in”) and dictō (“to declare, dictate”), the frequentative of dīcō (“to say, speak”),[6][5] which Etymonline traces to Proto-Indo-European *deik- (“to show”).[6] The OED notes, however, that Old French enditer is recorded only in senses such as "make known, dictate, compose, write", so that the history of the legal sense is not clear, and that the Medieval Latin indictāre (“to indict, accuse”) seems to be only a Latinized form of the Anglo-Norman and Middle English verb.[5] After that Latin form the English spelling was changed to “indict” around 1600, but the word kept its French pronunciation.[5][6][7] It is related to indite and dictate.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of accusing; a formal accusation: 1303, in Robert Mannyng's “Handlyng Synne”, "Ne quest take of endytement yn holy cherche".[5][2] Etymonline dates it to about 1300.[6]

Semantic evolution

Chaucer used the word once, in the Parson's Tale, for false accusations,[9][2] and Middle English also used it of condemnation as a public nuisance.[2] In English law it named the process by which a formal accusation was presented by a grand jury,[5][4] and since 1506 the legal document containing the charge;[5][6] from about 1530 a written accusation laid before the grand jury, before it was found a true bill or thrown out, was also called an indictment.[5] In Scots law it is, from the 18th century, the form of process by which a person is brought to trial at the instance of the Lord Advocate.[5][4][10] The figurative sense, something that serves to accuse or condemn, is recorded from 1871.[5][4]

Timeline

  • 1303 – the action of accusing, a formal accusation.[5][2]
  • c. 1390 – false accusations, in Chaucer.[2]
  • 1506 – the legal document containing the charge.[5]
  • c. 1530 – the written accusation preferred to a grand jury.[5]
  • c. 1600 – spelling changed to indict-.[5][6]
  • before 1768 – Scots law: the process of bringing a person to trial.[5]
  • 1871 – something that condemns or censures.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (law) A formal written accusation charging a person with a serious crime, especially one presented by a grand jury: The indictment named three former directors.
  2. (law) The act of indicting, or the state of being indicted.
  3. (Scots law) A charge of crime brought at the instance of the Lord Advocate.
  4. Something that shows a person, group or system to deserve blame; a severe criticism or condemnation: The empty shelves were an indictment of the city's planning.

Word family

  • nonindictment

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  10. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Indictment.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/indictment. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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