1. indictment(n = noun.communication) bill of indictment - a formal document written for a prosecuting attorney charging a person with some offense;
is a kind of instrument, legal document, legal instrument, official document
has parts: charge, complaint
has particulars: murder charge, murder indictment, true bill
Derived form verb indict1
2. indictment(n = noun.communication) - an accusation of wrongdoing; "the book is an indictment of modern philosophy"
is a kind of accusal, accusation
Derived form verb indict1
1. The act of indicting, or the state of being indicted. [1913 Webster]
2. The formal statement of an offense, as framed by the prosecuting authority of the State, and found by the grand jury. [1913 Webster]
" To the validity of an indictment a finding by the grand jury is essential, while an information rests only on presentation by the prosecuting authority." [1913 Webster]
3. An accusation in general; a formal accusation. [1913 Webster]
indictment, n.
1 the act of indicting.
2 a a formal accusation. b a legal process in which this is made. c a document containing a charge.
3 something that serves to condemn or censure.
Etymology:
ME f. AF enditement (as INDICT)
N lawsuit, suit, action, cause, litigation, suit in law, dispute, citation, arraignment, prosecution, impeachment, accusation, presentment, true bill, indictment, apprehension, arrest, committal, imprisonment, writ, summons, subpoena, latitat, nisi prius, venire, venire facias pleadings, declaration, bill, claim, proces verbal, bill of right, information, corpus delicti, affidavit, state of facts, answer, reply, replication, plea, demurrer, rebutter, rejoinder, surrebutter, surrejoinder, suitor, party to a suit, plaintiff, defendant, litigant, hearing, trial, verdict, appeal, appeal motion, writ of error, certiorari, case, decision, precedent, decided case, reports (legal reference works, see reference books), litigious, qui tam, coram judice, sub judice, pendente lite, adhuc sub judice lis est, accedas ad curiam, transeat in exemplum.
N accusation, charge, imputation, slur, inculpation, exprobration, delation, crimination, incrimination, accrimination, recrimination, tu quoque argument, invective, denunciation, denouncement, libel, challenge, citation, arraignment, impeachment, appeachment, indictment, bill of indictment, true bill, lawsuit, condemnation, gravamen of a charge, head and front of one's offending, argumentum ad hominem, scandal, scandalum magnatum, accuser, prosecutor, plaintiff, relator, informer, appellant, accused, defendant, prisoner, perpetrator, panel, respondent, litigant, accusing, accusatory, accusative, imputative, denunciatory, recriminatory, criminatory, accused, suspected, under suspicion, under a cloud, under surveillance, in custody, in detention, in the lockup, in the watch house, in the house of detention, accusable, imputable, indefensible, inexcusable, unpardonable, unjustifiable, vicious, Int, look at home, tu quoque, the breath of accusation kills an innocent name, thou can'st not say I did it.