From Anglo-Norman 'enditement' (formal accusation) — the silent 'c' was added to reveal the Latin root 'dictare.'
A formal charge or accusation of a serious crime; a thing that serves to illustrate that a system or situation is bad and deserves condemnation.
From Anglo-Norman French 'enditement' (a formal accusation), from 'enditer' (to accuse formally, to write down a charge), from Old French 'enditier' (to dictate, to write down, to accuse), from Vulgar Latin *indictāre, frequentative of Latin 'indicere' (to proclaim, to declare), from 'in-' (upon, toward) + 'dicere' (to say, to speak). The silent 'c' in 'indictment' was reinserted by sixteenth-century scholars who recognized the Latin root 'dictāre' — the pronunciation never followed. Key roots: dicere (