Arranged

How to spell arranged

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce arranged

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does arranged mean?

1. verbPut things into a particular order, or organised and agreed the details of an event or plan.
2. adjectiveOrganised or settled in advance through prior agreement rather than left to chance.

Arranged in a sentence

• verb

  She arranged the files alphabetically before the audit.

• adjective

  Their arranged marriage was approved by both families.

• verb

  The couple arranged the wedding venue months in advance.

• adjective

  The meeting took place at the previously arranged time.

Where does arranged come from?

Language of origin: French

This word descends from the Old French verb arangier (later arranger), meaning 'to put in a row' or 'to set in order'. That verb was built from the prefix a-, meaning 'to' or 'towards', and the noun renc or rang, meaning 'a row, rank, or line'; intriguingly, rang itself came from a Germanic root related to 'ring' and the idea of things drawn up in a circle or line. English borrowed the verb in the late 1300s, originally in the narrow military sense of drawing soldiers up into ranks, before it broadened to the everyday meaning of putting anything into a tidy or agreed order. The same rang root sits inside the modern words 'range' and 'rank', which is a useful reminder that the spelling keeps the full 'range' inside it. The doubled r comes from the assimilated Latin-style prefix ad- becoming ar- before the r-sound, and that double letter is the main thing writers have to remember.

How the word is built

• ar- (variant of ad-: to, towards)
• range (from Old French rang: a row or line)
• -ed (past-tense/participle suffix)