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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
Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Mar. 2025
On Friday, the plaintiffs asked Judge Chuang to block DOGE representatives from combing through U.S.A.I.D. data and systems, as a method of short-term relief.
—Aishvarya Kavi, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2025
More than a dozen plaintiffs brought claims on Friday alone.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 1 Mar. 2025
Last month, the ACLU and its fellow plaintiffs filed another lawsuit against the Trump administration demanding that migrants at Guantánamo be given access to lawyers.
—Sacha Pfeiffer, NPR, 1 Mar. 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 9 Mar. 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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