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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
Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
The plaintiffs’ attorneys said the deal is the result of a year of intense investigation of the derailment, and should provide meaningful relief to residents.
—Josh Funk, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2024
The plaintiffs argued that Craig was not qualified to assess the article’s literary qualities.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 8 Apr. 2024
Lawyers for the plaintiffs and news organizations had argued there was no legal reason to withhold the materials from public release.
—Jeff McDonald, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2024
Jeremy Zielinski, an atheist and one of the plaintiffs, was granted permission to view the eclipse on religious grounds in March before the statewide lockdown was announced, according to the lawsuit.
—Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
Madonna's attorneys on Thursday filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit against the pop superstar for starting a concert two hours late, arguing the plaintiffs didn't demonstrate any clear injuries, court documents show.
—S. Dev, CBS News, 4 Apr. 2024
Additionally, the lawsuit also says the plaintiff has yet to be paid for other business expenses such as payroll loans and payments on an American Express account related to the business, as well as personal loans to Updike.
—Alexandria Burris, The Indianapolis Star, 4 Apr. 2024
The latest challenge — a lawsuit claiming the tax was unconstitutional — was shut down in October, when an L.A. County judge dismissed the case, but the plaintiffs are in the process of appealing the decision.
—Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024
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 18 Apr. 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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