array
Forms
- Plural
- arrays
- present (v1)
- array
- past (v2)
- arrayed
- past participle (v3)
- arrayed
- present participle
- arraying
- 3rd person singular
- arrays
Definitions
1.Clothing and ornamentation; raiment.
- Sovay, Sovay all on a day, She dressed herself in man's array, With a sword and a pistol all by her side, To meet her true love to meet her true love away did ride.
2.A collection laid out to be viewed in full.
- Upon leaving the center, I photographed the colorful array of petunias decorating the square in purple, pink, yellow, white, and magenta.
3.An orderly series, arrangement or sequence.
4.Order; a regular and imposing arrangement; disposition in regular lines; hence, order of battle.
1.To clothe and ornament; to adorn or attire.
- He was arrayed in his finest robes and jewels.
- However, hat and coat and overshoes were one by one removed, and hung up in a little space in an adjacent corner; when, arrayed in a decent suit, he quietly approached the pulpit.
2.To lay out in an orderly arrangement; to deploy or marshal.
- It is a noble ambition, and the forces arrayed against it are mighty.
3.To set in order, as a jury, for the trial of a cause; that is, to call them one at a time.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3961
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English arrayen, from Anglo-Norman arraier (compare Old French arraier, areer (“to put in order”)), from Vulgar Latin *arrēdō (“to put in order, arrange, array”), from *rēdum (“preparation, order”), from Frankish *raid or *raidā (“preparation, order”) or Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 (garaiþs, “ready, prepared”), from Proto-Germanic *raidaz, *raidiz (“ready”).