complaint English · revision 6006
16 Oct 2026, 04:32 by bogdan “en10k b0233: desperate … preparation; frozen 2337 skipped” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1368|origins=fro complainte}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /kəmˈpleɪnt/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is Middle English compleynte, [[bor|fro|complainte|t=complaint, lament]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002) a noun use of the feminine past participle of complaindre “to lament” (see [[complain]] and [[plaint]]).^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A plaintive poem, about 1368 in the OED, and the action of complaining, lament, about 1384.^(OED 1989) Etymonline has grief and lament, and also a statement of grievances, in the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ An outcry against injury suffered is from 1374, and a statement of a grievance from about 1385.^(OED 1989) In law a formal accusation, and in the United States the plaintiff's case in a civil action, followed.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The matter complained of is from before 1699, 1745 in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A bodily ailment, especially a chronic one, is from 1705,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) often generalized in US colloquial use as ''complaints''.^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1368 – a plaintive poem.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1374 – an outcry against wrong.^(OED 1989)
+ * c. 1384 – lament.^(OED 1989)
+ * c. 1385 – a statement of grievance.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1705 – a bodily ailment.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A statement that something is wrong or unsatisfactory.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # A cause for complaining; a [[grievance]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # An illness or [[ailment]], especially a mild one.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # ''(law)'' A formal charge or the plaintiff's statement of a claim in a civil action.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[countercomplaint]]
+ * [[summer complaint]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[complain]]
+ * [[plaint]]
+ * [[plaintiff]]
+ * [[plaintive]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}