'array' originates from Old French, specifically the word 'areier' / 'arayer', where 'areier/arayer' meant 'to put in order' or 'to prepare'.

'array' changed from Old French 'areier' / 'arayer' into Middle English as 'arreyen' and eventually became the modern English word 'array'.

Initially, it meant 'to put in order' or 'to prepare', but over time it evolved to include the noun sense 'an ordered arrangement' and specialized senses such as the computing term 'array'.