What does accusement mean?
"Accusement" is a rare and now largely obsolete English noun denoting a charge or claim that someone has committed a wrongdoing — in other words, an accusation. Formed from the verb "accuse," which descends from the Latin accusare, itself built on the root causa ("cause" or "legal case"), it belongs to the same family as "accusation," "excuse," and "cause" itself. Historically, the word appeared in English legal and formal contexts, where it functioned much like its modern counterpart: the act of bringing a charge against a person, or the charge so brought. Today it survives almost exclusively in historical texts and dictionaries of archaic language, having been fully displaced by "accusation." Encountering it in an old document signals nothing unusual about the sentence's meaning — only about its age — but it offers a small window into how English legal vocabulary evolved from its Latin foundations.
nounA charge or claim that someone has committed a wrongdoing; an accusation.
- A formal charge or claim that someone has done something wrong; the act of accusing (now archaic or very rare).
"The accusement was read aloud in court before the defendant entered a plea."
"The accusement was read aloud in court before the defendant entered a plea."
"In older legal texts, one may encounter phrases such as 'upon the said accusement.'"
The plural is attested but extremely rare, appearing only in archaic legal texts.
"Several accusements were brought against the official that year."
Before "accusation" became the everyday word, English speakers once said "accusement" — a now-nearly-forgotten sibling straight from the same Latin root as "cause."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of accusement
"Accusement" derives from the verb "accuse," which English borrowed from Old French acuser, ultimately from the Latin accusare, meaning to bring a charge against someone. The Latin verb itself combines ad- ("toward") with causa, the root behind both "cause" and "excuse." The noun formed with the suffix -ment parallels other action nouns like "judgment" and "punishment," and cognates appear in Romance languages such as Old French. It has been superseded in modern usage by "accusation."
How accusement is actually used
"Accusement" is an archaic and largely obsolete term found chiefly in older legal writing; modern English overwhelmingly uses "accusation" instead. It should not be used in contemporary prose except for deliberate stylistic effect.
Easily confused with accusement
"Accusation" is the standard, common term for a charge of wrongdoing, while "accusement" is an archaic or rare variant carrying the same core meaning.