Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To put into a specific order or relation; dispose.
  • intransitive verb To plan or prepare for.
  • intransitive verb To bring about or come to an agreement concerning; settle.
  • intransitive verb Music To adapt or rework (a composition) for other instruments or voices or as another style of performance.
  • intransitive verb To come to an agreement.
  • intransitive verb To cause something to happen or make plans for something to happen.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To put in proper order; dispose or set out conformably to a plan or purpose; give a certain collocation to; marshal: as, to arrange troops for battle.
  • To adjust; settle; come to an agreement or understanding regarding: as, to arrange the terms of a bargain.
  • In music, to adapt or alter so as to fit for performance by other voices or instruments than those designed by the composer: as, to arrange an opera for the piano.
  • To fix upon, determine, agree upon, draw up; to devise, organize, construct, concoct.
  • To make preparations; carry out beforehand such negotiations or make such disposition in regard to some matter as may be necessary: as, to arrange about a passport, or for supplies; arrange with a publisher.
  • To come to an agreement or understanding in regard to something; make a settlement.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To put in proper order; to dispose (persons, or parts) in the manner intended, or best suited for the purpose.
  • transitive verb To adjust or settle; to prepare; to determine.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To set up, to organize, especially in a positive manner.
  • verb To put in order, to organize.
  • verb music To prepare and adapt an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb adapt for performance in a different way
  • verb put into a proper or systematic order
  • verb plan, organize, and carry out (an event)
  • verb arrange thoughts, ideas, temporal events
  • verb arrange attractively
  • verb set (printed matter) into a specific format
  • verb make arrangements for

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English arengen, from Old French arengier : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad–) + rengier, to put in a line (from reng, rank (of warriors), line, of Germanic origin; see sker- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English arengen, arrangen ("to draw up a battle line") from Old French arengier, arrangier ("to put in a line, put in a row") from reng, rang, ranc ("line, row, rank"), from Frankish hring ("ring"), from Proto-Germanic *hringaz (“something bent or curved”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, turn”). Akin to Old High German (h)ring, Old Frisian hring, Old English hring, hrincg ("ring"), Old Norse hringr ("ring, circle, queue, sword; ship"). More at ring

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