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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
Mark Williams, The Enquirer, 12 June 2024
Zwick says that the real challenge is going to be finding plaintiffs for their lawsuit, which means finding people directly harmed by the rule.
—Rebecca Schneid, TIME, 12 June 2024
The circuit court lawsuit is filed on behalf of six plaintiffs against Louisville gun shop River City Firearms.
—The Courier-Journal, 12 June 2024
Adrian Martinez is deputy managing attorney for Earthjustice, the group representing the plaintiffs.
—Rebecca Plevin, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for plaintiff 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'plaintiff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near plaintiff
Cite this Entry
“Plaintiff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plaintiff. Accessed 16 Jun. 2024.
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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