indictment

English[edit]

18th-century Latinized respelling of Middle English endytement (“action of accusing”), from Anglo-Norman enditement, from enditer, from Late Latin indictāre, from Latin indictus.

indictment (countable and uncountable, plural indictments)

(law) An official formal accusation for a criminal offence, or the process by which it is brought to a jury. [from 14th c.]
(law) The official legal document outlining the charges concerned; bill of indictment. [from 16th c.]
- 2023 March 30, William K. Rashbaum, “This is what will happen when Trump is arrested in the coming days.”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:
  […] — the indictment will remain sealed until his expected arraignment on Tuesday, when the charges will be formally revealed.
(countable, uncountable) An accusation of wrongdoing; a criticism or condemnation. [from 19th c.]
- 1910, Emma Goldman, “Patriotism: A Menace to Liberty”, in Anarchism and Other Essays‎^[2]:
  Can there be a greater indictment against patriotism than that it will thus brand a man a criminal, throw him into prison, and rob him of the results of fifteen years of faithful service?
- 2023 July 26, Christian Wolmar, “Closing ticket offices to lead to 'catch-22' for passengers”, in RAIL, number 988, page 42:
  I have been critical of the RDG in the past for merely being a cypher for government announcements, but the failure of its members to make a stand on this issue and not be complicit in the Government's subterfuge is a shocking indictment of their failure to protect the industry.
Evidence of failure or poor performance.
an indictment of his ability to lead

an indictment of his game

criminal accusation

Chinese:
Mandarin: 起訴／起诉 (zh) (qǐsù)
Dutch: beschuldiging (nl)
Faroese: ákæra f
Finnish: syyte (fi), syytekirjelmä
French: inculpation (fr) f, mise en examen (fr) f
German: Anklage (de) f
Hindi: अभियोग (hi) m (abhiyog)
Hungarian: vádemelés (hu), vád alá helyezés
Indonesian: dakwaan (id)
Japanese: 起訴 (ja) (きそ, kiso)
Korean: 기소 (ko) (giso)
Latin: crīmen n
Macedonian: обвинителен акт m (obvinitelen akt)
Norwegian: tilltale
Plautdietsch: Aunkloag f
Polish: akt oskarżenia (pl) m, oskarżenie (pl) n
Portuguese: indiciamento m
Russian: обвини́тельный акт m (obvinítelʹnyj akt), обвине́ние (ru) n (obvinénije)
Slovak: obžaloba f
Spanish: formulación de cargos
Tagalog: sakdal
Turkish: itham (tr), suçlama (tr)
Welsh: ditiad m

bill of indictment

accusation