# arrest

> English word · Noun · IPA /əˈɹɛst/ · frequency rank #2,713

## Definitions
1. A check; a stop; an act or instance of arresting something.
2. The condition of being stopped, standstill.
3. The process of arresting a criminal, suspect etc.
4. A confinement, detention, as after an arrest.
5. A device to physically arrest motion.
6. The judicial detention of a ship to secure a financial claim against its operators.
7. Any seizure by power, physical or otherwise.
8. A scurfiness of the back part of the hind leg of a horse

## Etymology
From Middle English arest (noun) and aresten (verb), from Old French areste (noun) and arester (“to stay, stop”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *arrestō, from Latin ad- (“to”) + restō (“to stop, remain behind, stay back”), from re- (“back”) + stō (“to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”), equivalent to ad- + rest. Compare French arrêter (“to stop”).

## Easily confused with
- **Ayres** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arrest-vs-ayres)
- **artist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arrest-vs-artist)
- **attest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arrest-vs-attest)
- **arrested** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arrest-vs-arrested)
- **Ares** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ares-vs-arrest)
- **acres** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/acres-vs-arrest)
- **aires** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aires-vs-arrest)
- **arent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arent-vs-arrest)
- **Aries** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/aries-vs-arrest)
- **arras** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/arras-vs-arrest)
- **ardent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ardent-vs-arrest)
- **argent** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/argent-vs-arrest)
- **afresh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/afresh-vs-arrest)
- **abreast** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/abreast-vs-arrest)

## Common misspellings (6)
`arerst`, `arest`, `arresst`, `arrestt`, `arrets`, `arrset`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/arrest