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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
Dan Gooding, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
During Sunday’s hearing, attorneys for the plaintiffs also pointed to a memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling up to 400 Texas National Guard troops into service in Illinois, Oregon and other US cities.
—Kelly McCleary, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2025
Dixon escaped serious injury, but the other plaintiffs did not.
—Jennifer Gonnerman, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2025
Several plaintiffs spent substantial time and energy training a workforce to support the program.
—Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 6 Oct. 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 Oct. 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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