# indictment

Pronunciation: say "in-DYT-muhnt" /ɪnˈdaɪt.mənt/

## Noun

1. A formal, official accusation that a person has committed a crime, or the legal process of bringing that charge before a jury.
   - Simple: A formal charge saying that someone may have committed a crime, brought before a court.
   - _Federal prosecutors secured an indictment on charges of fraud and money laundering._
   - _The case proceeded to indictment after the grand jury reviewed the evidence._
2. An accusation that someone or something has done wrong; a sharp criticism or condemnation.
   - Simple: A strong statement that blames someone or something for being wrong or bad.
   - _The documentary stands as a damning indictment of factory farming practices._
   - _Critics read the novel as an indictment of unchecked ambition._
3. A fact or outcome that serves as evidence of failure or poor performance, exposing how badly something has gone.
   - Simple: A sign or proof that something has failed or is being done badly.
   - _The bridge collapse was a stark indictment of decades of underfunding._
   - _Rising dropout rates are an indictment of how the reforms were implemented._
4. The official legal document that sets out the specific charges brought against the accused; a bill of indictment.
   - Simple: The official paper that lists the crimes a person is charged with.
   - _The indictment ran to forty pages and detailed each alleged offense._
   - _Prosecutors filed the indictment with the clerk of the court._

## Origin

An 18th-century Latinized respelling of Middle English endytement ("action of accusing"), which came through Anglo-Norman enditement and enditer from Late Latin indictāre, ultimately from Latin indictus.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/indictment (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).