Arrangement

How to spell arrangement

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce arrangement

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does arrangement mean?

1. nounThe way in which things are organised or positioned, or a plan or agreement reached between people.
2. nounA version of a piece of music adapted for particular instruments or voices.

Arrangement in a sentence

• The seating arrangement for the wedding took weeks to finalise.

• She wrote a jazz arrangement of the old folk tune.

• They came to a financial arrangement that suited both parties.

• The choir performed an a cappella arrangement of the carol.

Where does arrangement come from?

Language of origin: French

The word comes from the French verb arranger, built from the prefix a- (meaning 'to') and the noun rang, meaning 'a row' or 'a rank', which itself was borrowed into French from a Germanic root linked to the modern word 'ring'. So at its heart 'arrange' literally meant to set things into a row or proper order. English took the verb in the late 1300s and later added the Latin-derived suffix -ment, which turns a verb into a noun naming the result or act, giving 'arrangement' by the 1700s. The same rang root sits behind the everyday words 'range' and 'rank', all sharing the idea of things lined up in order. The spelling trap is the double r at the start, inherited from the assimilated a- prefix, plus remembering to keep the silent e of 'arrange' before the -ment ending.

How the word is built

• ar- (variant of ad-, to)
• range (put in a row, from Old French rang, a row or rank)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix)