Arresté

Arresté is generally considered a nonstandard spelling of the French past participle of arrêter. In modern French the correct form is arrêté, with the circumflex on the ê. The masculine singular adjective or past participle form is arrêté; feminine is arrêtée, masculine plural arrêtés, and feminine plural arrêtées. The form arresté may appear as a misspelling in non-native writing or typographical errors, but it is not the standard form.

The verb arrêter has two main senses: to stop something and to arrest someone. The past participle arrêt é serves both as part of compound tenses and as an adjective. Examples: Il a été arrêté par la police (he was arrested). Il est arrêté à cause d’un accident (he is stopped/blocked due to an accident, in the sense of being halted). As a transitive verb in the passé composé with avoir, the participle agrees with a preceding direct object: les suspects arrêtés par la police (the suspects arrested by the police). As an intransitive or passive construction with être, it remains invariable with gender and number: il est arrêté; ils sont arrêtés.

Etymology traces arrêt é to the Old French arreter, from the noun arrêt (stop, halt) and related legal and administrative terms. The noun arrêt and the verb are connected to the idea of stopping, halting, or detaining. Related forms include arrêt, arrêter, arrêtation (archaic or legal), and the adjective arrêté/arrêtée.

See also: arrêter, arrêt, arrêtation, arrestation, arrested (in English contexts). The spelling arresté is typically considered incorrect in standard French and should be avoided in formal writing.