indict

From Anglo-Norman enditer, from Old French enditer, from Medieval Latin indicto, from Latin in- + dictare.

The seemingly irregular pronunciation, compared with other English words also descending from Latin dicto, arose due to being borrowed from an Old French form (instead of more directly from Latin as was the case with the other descendants) which lost its "c" (yielding the base form endite) and thus made the word prone to have its "i" as IPA^(key): /aɪ/, with the "c" later inserted in analogy.

• Rhymes: -aɪt
• US: IPA^(key): /ˌɪnˈdaɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: indite

indict (third-person singular simple present indicts, present participle indicting, simple past and past participle indicted)

1. To accuse of wrongdoing; charge.

   a book that indicts modern values

2. (law) To make a formal accusation or indictment for a crime against (a party) by the findings of a jury, especially a grand jury.

   his former manager was indicted for fraud

• indite