Array Meaning
/əˈɹeɪ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounClothing and ornamentation; raiment.
nounA collection laid out to be viewed in full.
Sentence Examples
The troops were in battle array.
Behind every animal on the Chinese zodiac lies an array of proverbs, sayings and stories.
A vast array of bottles of different shapes and sizes
CEFR Practice Quiz
The store displayed a huge ____ of colorful candies on the shelves for the holiday season.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The store offers a wide ____ of products for all your home needs.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English arrayen, from Anglo-Norman arraier (compare Old French arraier, areer (“to put in order”)), from Vulgar Latin *arrēdō (“to put in order, arrange, array”), from *rēdum (“preparation, order”), from Frankish *raid or *raidā (“preparation, order”) or Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌸𐍃 (garaiþs, “ready, prepared”), from Proto-Germanic *raidaz, *raidiz (“ready”). Compare Old English rād (“condition, stipulation”), Old High German antreitī (“order, rank”). Doublet of ready.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Sovay, Sovay all on a day, She dressed herself in man's array, With a sword and a pistol all by her side, To meet her true love to meet her true love away did ride."
— 2017, anonymous author, “Sovay”, in Roud # 7, Laws N21:
"In this Remembrance Emily e’re day / Aroſe, and dreſs’d her ſelf in rich Array […]"
— 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:
"The Begums' ministers, on the contrary, to extort from them the disclosure of the place which concealed the treasures, were, […] after being fettered and imprisoned, led out on to a scaffold, and this array of terrours proving unavailing, the meek tempered Middleton, as a dernier resort, menaced them with a confinement in the fortress of Chunargar. Thus, my lords, was a British garrison made the climax of cruelties!"
— 1788 June, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, “Mr. Sheridan’s Speech, on Summing Up the Evidence on the Second, or Begum Charge against Warren Hastings, Esq., Delivered before the High Court of Parliament, June 1788”, in Select Speeches, Forensick and Parliamentary, with Prefatory Remarks by N[athaniel] Chapman, M.D., volume I, [Philadelphia, Pa.]: Published by Hopkins and Earle, no. 170, Market Street, published 1808, →OCLC, page 474:
"Upon leaving the center, I photographed the colorful array of petunias decorating the square in purple, pink, yellow, white, and magenta."
— 2002, David L. Thompson, “River of Memories -An Appalachian Boyhood”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), page 69:
"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"
— 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:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The store displayed a huge ____ of colorful candies on the shelves for the holiday season.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The store offers a wide ____ of products for all your home needs.