An indictment is a formal legal statement saying that someone is charged with a serious crime. It usually comes from a grand jury or similar authority.
It comes from Latin “indicere,” meaning “to proclaim” or “to declare,” through Old French “enditer” and then Middle English “endite.” The spelling later shifted toward the Latin root, creating the silent “c” in “indictment.”
The word looks like it should be pronounced *in-dict-ment*, but that “c” is completely silent—left over from a spelling change trying to look more Latin and ‘fancy.’ Indictment is about an official announcement: it doesn’t mean you’re guilty yet, just that the legal system is formally accusing you. It’s a reminder that in law, how things are said on paper is almost as important as what actually happened.
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