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Where does the word "arrest" come from? It comes from Vulgar Latin ad restare, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).
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Where does the word "arrest" come from? It comes from Vulgar Latin ad restare, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).
Arrest’s story begins in Vulgar Latin: ad restare meant “to stop, to remain.” To stop, to remain behind, from ad- (to) and restare (to remain). By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as arester. Carried into French legal vocabulary for stopping or detaining someone. It reached English by 1300s as arrest. Settled as the English word for detaining someone by legal authority. Today, arrest means to seize and detain someone by legal authority.
- Stage 1 · Vulgar Latin · medieval ad restare "to stop, to remain", to stop, to remain behind, from ad- (to) and restare (to remain).
- Stage 2 · Old French · medieval arester "to stop or detain someone", carried into French legal vocabulary for stopping or detaining someone.
- Stage 3 · English · 1300s arrest "to detain someone by legal authority", settled as the English word for detaining someone by legal authority.