deraign
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French deraisnier (“to explain, defend, to maintain in legal action by proof and reasonings”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Late Latin derationare (“to discourse, contend in law”).
Verb
deraign (third-person singular simple present deraigns, present participle deraigning, simple past and past participle deraigned)
- (law, obsolete, transitive) To prove or to refute by proof, especially on threat of combat.
- (obsolete) To engage in (battle, combat etc.).
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.iv:
- Therewith they gan to hurtlen greedily, / Redoubted battaile ready to darrayne, / And clash their shields, and shake their swords on hy [...].
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, I.iv:
Usage notes
Not to be confused with darrein.