plaintiff

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English plaintif, also playntyf and pleyntyff,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman pleintif, also plaintif,^[5][6][7] the noun use of Old French plaintif (“complaining; wretched, miserable”),^[6][5][2] which in law meant "aggrieved".^[6] The Old French adjective is from plainte, plaint,^[6][8][9] which goes back to Latin planctus (“lamentation”), from the past participle of plangō (“to strike, beat one's breast, lament”).^[3] The OED records the noun in Old French from 1260 for the party bringing a suit,^[5] and the Anglo-Norman word from about 1235.^[7] It was at first the same word as plaintive; the form that came down through Law French and stayed in legal use kept the older spelling with “-iff”.^[6][10][11] Weekley compares complainant.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

In law, the party that brings a suit in a court, the opposite of the defendant: before 1325, in a manuscript of the Statutes of the Realm.^[5] Barnhart dates it before 1400,^[2] and Etymonline about 1400.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The legal noun has kept its meaning; the more general use for anyone who complains, recorded from about 1439 in Lydgate's Fall of Princes, died out after 1672,^[5][11] and a rare sense "a person who is unwell" is recorded only in 1633.^[5] Figurative and extended uses date from 1589.^[5] Johnson (1755) entered both the noun, opposed to the defendant, and an adjective "complaining", which he called a word not in use.^[13] In American law it is the party seeking a remedy for an injury to its rights, and Merriam-Webster contrasts it with the prosecutor as well as the defendant;^[14] Collins marks the word as former usage in Britain, now replaced by claimant.^[8]

Timeline

• before 1325 – in law, the party that brings a suit.^[5]
• c. 1439 – a person who complains (obsolete by 1672).^[5]
• 1589 – figurative and extended use.^[5]
• 1633 – a person who is unwell (rare, obsolete).^[5]
• 1755 – Johnson defines the noun and calls the adjective obsolete.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. In law, a person or party who brings a civil action against another in a court; the opposite of the defendant: The plaintiffs are seeking damages for the flooding.^{[14][8][5][11]}
2. (obsolete, c. 1439–1672) A person who complains; a complainer.^[5][11]

Word family

• plaintiffship

Related words

• plaintive
• plaint
• complain
• complainant

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster