arrange definition

English arrange definition

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English arengen, arrangen (“to draw up a battle line”), borrowed from Old French arengier, arrangier (“to put in a line, put in a row”), derived from reng, rang, ranc (“line, row, rank”), from Frankish *hring (“ring”), from Proto-Germanic *hringaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krengʰ-, a form of Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈɹeɪndʒ/
• Rhymes: -eɪndʒ

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

arrange (third-person singular simple present arranges, present participle arranging, simple past and past participle arranged)

1. (transitive) To set up; to organize; to put into an orderly sequence or arrangement.
   • 1485, William Caxton, transl., Sidney J. H. Herrtage, editor, Lyf of the Noble and Crysten Prynce, Charles the Grete (in Middle English), London: Oxford UP, published 1880–81, book ij, part iij, cap. iij, page 153:

     & whan the frensshe men sawe thus the hors come, whyche was longyng to rychard, they were al affrayed and moeued, and came & opened the gate, and anone he entred in; and after that the yate was shette, they arenged them aboute the sayd hors, for compassyon of sorowe, wepyng pyetously.

     And when the Frenchmen saw thus the horse come, which was longing for Richard, they were all afraid and moved, and came and opened the gate, and anon he entered in; and after the gate was shut, they arranged them about the said horse for compassion of sorrow, weeping piteously.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, […].

2. (transitive, intransitive) To plan; to prepare in advance.

   to arrange to meet;   to arrange for supper

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:

     It had been arranged as part of the day's programme that Mr. Cooke was to drive those who wished to go over the Rise in his new brake.

3. (music, transitive, intransitive) To prepare and adapt an already-written composition for presentation in other than its original form.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

Related terms

• arrangement
• ring

Translations

French arrange definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.ʁɑ̃ʒ/

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Verb

arrange

1. inflection of arranger:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• rangera