arrange

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”).

verb

  1. (transitive) To set up; to organize; to put into an orderly sequence or arrangement.
    & 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. 1485, William Caxton, transl., edited by Sidney J. H. Herrtage, 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
    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, […]. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess
  2. (transitive, intransitive) To plan; to prepare in advance.
    to arrange to meet;   to arrange for supper
  3. (music, transitive, intransitive) To prepare and adapt an already-written composition for presentation in other than its original form.

noun

  1. (music, Japan) rearranged rendition of a song; arrangement

Attribution / Disclaimer All definitions come directly from Wiktionary using the Wiktextract library. We do not edit or curate the definitions for any words, if you feel the definition listed is incorrect or offensive please suggest modifications directly to the source (wiktionary/arrange), any changes made to the source will update on this page periodically.