Array

How to spell array

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce array

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does array mean?

1. nounAn ordered arrangement or an impressively large group of things.
2. verbTo arrange things in a particular order or position.
3. nounIn programming, a data structure that holds a numbered sequence of values.

Array in a sentence

• noun

  The museum displayed a dazzling array of ancient coins.

• verb

  The caterers had to array the desserts neatly along the table.

• noun

  The function loops through every element in the array to find the total.

• noun

  The solar panels were installed in a neat array across the roof.

• verb

  The general planned to array his troops behind the ridge before dawn.

• noun

  He stored the daily temperatures in a single array for easy access.

Where does array come from?

Language of origin: French

Array reached English in the 1300s from Anglo-French and Old French arayer or areer, meaning 'to put in order' or 'to prepare'. Those forms trace back to a Vulgar Latin verb reconstructed as arredare, built from the Latin prefix ad-, meaning 'to' or 'toward', joined to a Germanic root that meant 'to make ready' and is the same source that gives us the everyday word 'ready'. The early sense was strongly military: to array troops was to draw them up in proper battle order, which is why the noun came to mean an impressive, orderly arrangement. A second old thread of meaning, 'to clothe' or 'to dress up', survives in the slightly formal noun for fine clothing. The single 'r' that begins the word but the doubled letters in the middle (the -ay- with two r-sounds in speech) trip people up, but remembering it is simply 'a' plus 'ray' keeps the spelling steady.

How the word is built

• a- (from Latin ad-: to, toward)
• ray (from a Germanic root meaning 'prepare, arrange', related to 'ready')