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We won't complain about the origins of plaintiff, although complain and plaintiff are distantly related; both can be traced back to plangere, a Latin word meaning "to strike, beat one's breast, or lament." Plaintiff comes most immediately from Middle English plaintif, itself an Anglo-French borrowing tracing back to plaint, meaning "lamentation." (The English word plaintive is also related.) Logically enough, plaintiff applies to the one who does the complaining in a legal case.
Examples of plaintiff in a Sentence
Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 2 May 2025
Fair use is always about uses the plaintiff doesn’t approve of; that’s why there is a lawsuit.
—ArsTechnica, 2 May 2025
Nine of those plaintiffs were members of the women’s soccer and gymnastics teams at Michigan, and another was a cheerleader at Michigan’s Dearborn campus.
—Austin Meek, New York Times, 2 May 2025
Relying on these court decisions, the Montana plaintiffs argued that a state law preventing state agencies from considering the effects of greenhouse gases in issuing permit applications for projects such as power plants or mines violated the state constitution.
—Alexandra Klass, The Conversation, 2 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for plaintiff
Cite this Entry
“Plaintiff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plaintiff. Accessed 10 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
plaintiff
noun
Legal Definition
plaintiff
noun
Middle French plaintif, from plaintif, adj., grieving, from plaint lamentation, from Latin planctus, from plangere to strike, beat one's breast, lament
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