Eggcorn Forum

The English term “arraign,” to bring before a court/find fault, derives from the OF term araisnier. The “g” in the word was added to the English spelling in the sixteenth century, perhaps under the influence of “reign.”

To this mangled term we can add a modern twist: the replacement of “arraigned” with “arranged,” especially in the common (and somewhat redundant) idiom “arraigned in court:”

Street life forum: “He was arranged in court Tuesday and plead not guilty to the murder charges that were brought against him”

North Carolina forum: “I haven’t been arranged in court, don’t even have a date set yet.”

Subsidy-published book: “a person could be arranged in court ”

There are a large number of “arrange/arraign” substitutions. A significant portion of them are from African sources.

The noun form, “arraingement,” also undergoes same switch:

A bail bond service explains (?) the legal process: “First court appearance and hearing is known as an ‘ arrangement hearing’.”

Others think that arraignment has something to do with an array:

Tweet: “Alai is arrayed in court after he was caught singing the track ‘Forever young’”

Comment on FB page by African writer: “The following morning I was arrayed in Court ”

Blog post by South African pastor: “’if you were arrayed in court for being a Christian, will there be sufficient evidence to convict you?”

There aren’t many “array/arraign” switches on the web. The few that are there also favor African provenances.