English
array
Etymology

From Middle English arrayen, from Anglo-Norman arraier (compare Old French arraier, areer ("to put in order")), from Medieval Latin arrēdō, from *rēdum ("preparation, order"), from Frankish *raid or *raidā ("preparation, order") or Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃, from Proto-Germanic *raidaz, *raidiz ("ready").

Pronunciation
  • (British, America) IPA: /əˈɹeɪ/
  • (Australia) IPA: /əˈɹæɪ/
Noun

array

  1. Clothing and ornamentation.
    • 1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite: Or, The Knight's Tale. In Three Books.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗, book I, page 8 ↗:
      In this Remembrance Emily e’re day / Aroſe, and dreſs’d her ſelf in rich Array […]
  2. A collection laid out to be viewed in full.
  3. An orderly series, arrangement or sequence.
    • 1855–1858, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain, volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC ↗:
      But the chivalry of France was represented by as gallant an array of nobles and cavaliers as ever fought under the banner of the lilies
  4. Order; a regular and imposing arrangement; disposition in regular lines; hence, order of battle.
    drawn up in battle array
    • 1776, Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; and T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC ↗:
      wedged together in the closest array
  5. A large collection.
    We offer a dazzling array of choices.
    • 1814, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in The Corsair, a Tale, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], for John Murray, […], →OCLC ↗, stanza I, page 64 ↗, lines 1218–1211:
      Again his waves in milder tints unfold / Their long array of sapphire and of gold, / Mixt with the shades of many a distant isle, / That frown—where gentler ocean seems to smile.
  6. (mathematics) A matrix.
  7. (programming) Any of various data structures designed to hold multiple elements of the same type; especially, a data structure that holds these elements in adjacent memory locations so that they may be retrieved using numeric indices.
  8. (legal) A ranking or setting forth in order, by the proper officer, of a jury as impanelled in a cause; the panel itself; or the whole body of jurors summoned to attend the court.
  9. (military) A militia.
  10. A group of hedgehogs.
  11. A microarray.
Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “orderly series”): disarray
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Verb

array (arrays, present participle arraying; simple past and past participle arrayed)

  1. To clothe and ornament; to adorn or attire.
    He was arrayed in his finest robes and jewels.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗, stanza 37, page 317 ↗:
      In a long purple pall, whose ſkirt with gold, / Was fretted all about, ſhe was arayd, […]
  2. To lay out in an orderly arrangement; to deploy or marshal.
  3. (legal) To set in order, as a jury, for the trial of a cause; that is, to call them one at a time.
    • 1768, William Blackstone, “Of the Trial by Jury”, in Commentaries on the Laws of England, book III (Of Private Wrongs), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC ↗, page 359 ↗:
      Alſo, though there be no perſonal objection againſt the ſheriff, yet if he arrays the panel at the nomination, or under the direction of either party, this is good cauſe of challenge to the array.
Synonyms Translations

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