ACCUSED

accused

(noun) a defendant in a criminal proceeding

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

accused

simple past tense and past participle of accuse

Noun

accused (plural accused)

(legal) The person charged with an offense; the defendant in a criminal case.

Synonym: accusee

Antonym: accuser

Usage notes

• (noun): Most often preceded by the definite article the. The plural accuseds is non-standard, and not widely used

Adjective

accused (comparative more accused, superlative most accused)

Having been accused; being the target of accusations.

Anagrams

• succade

Source: Wiktionary

Ac*cused", a.

Definition: Charged with offense; as, an accused person.

Note: Commonly used substantively; as, the accused, one charged with an offense; the defendant in a criminal case.

ACCUSE

Ac*cuse", n.

Definition: Accusation. [Obs.] Shak.

Ac*cuse", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Accused; p. pr. & vb. n. Accusing.] Etym: [OF. acuser, F. accuser, L. accusare, to call to account, accuse; ad + causa cause, lawsuit. Cf. Cause.]

1. To charge with, or declare to have committed, a crime or offense; (Law)

Definition: to charge with an offense, judicially or by a public process; - - with of; as, to accuse one of a high crime or misdemeanor. Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me. Acts xxiv. 13. We are accused of having persuaded Austria and Sardinia to lay down their arms. Macaulay.

2. To charge with a fault; to blame; to censure. Their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another. Rom. ii. 15.

3. To betray; to show. Etym: [L.] Sir P. Sidney.

Syn.

– To charge; blame; censure; reproach; criminate; indict; impeach; arraign.

– To Accuse, Charge, Impeach, Arraign. These words agree in bringing home to a person the imputation of wrongdoing. To accuse is a somewhat formal act, and is applied usually (though not exclusively) to crimes; as, to accuse of treason. Charge is the most generic. It may refer to a crime, a dereliction of duty, a fault, etc.; more commonly it refers to moral delinquencies; as, to charge with dishonesty or falsehood. To arraign is to bring (a person) before a tribunal for trial; as, to arraign one before a court or at the bar public opinion. To impeach is officially to charge with misbehavior in office; as, to impeach a minister of high crimes. Both impeach and arraign convey the idea of peculiar dignity or impressiveness.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition