arrival
Americannoun
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the act or time of arriving
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a person or thing that arrives or has arrived
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the reaching of a condition or objective
Other Word Forms
- nonarrival noun
Etymology
Origin of arrival
1350–1400; arrive + -al 2; replacing Middle English arivaille < Middle French
Explanation
An arrival is an entrance or an appearance — the act of showing up somewhere. Your arrival at your grandparents' house will no doubt be marked by great enthusiasm and many hugs. The process of arriving, or first getting to your destination, is arrival. Your sister's arrival at the airport might be delayed by bad weather, and your new kitten's arrival will be an exciting event for your whole family. Another kind of arrival is a person who's just arrived: "I easily picked her out from all the bus station arrivals."
Vocabulary lists containing arrival
List 3
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -al, -ial
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fast-forward to late 2025, and his arrival in Belgium as US ambassador.
From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026
In the decade before its Sheffield arrival, the final had been played in towns and cities spread as far apart as Bolton, Birmingham, Sydney and Melbourne.
From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026
Eddie Murphy is celebrating not just his lifetime achievement award, but also the arrival of his third granddaughter, perhaps the funniest baby alive.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2026
The arrival of Agentforce the following year gave Salesforce a way to tap in to rising enterprise interest in AI.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
“This way our arrival will be a real surprise. We’ll come up with a careful plan of attack and take things step by step. Hup, hup, hup! Eh, governess? Governess?”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
