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Origin and history of plaintiff

plaintiff(n.)

in law, "the person who begins a suit before a tribunal for the recovery of a claim" (opposed to defendant), c. 1400, pleintif, from Anglo-French pleintif (late 13c.), from noun use of Old French plaintif "complaining; wretched, miserable," in law, "aggrieved" (as in partie plaintif "the party bringing a suit at law"), from plainte (see plaint). Identical to plaintive at first; the form that receded into legal usage retained the older -iff spelling.

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to plaintiff

plaint(n.)

c. 1200, pleinte, "lamentation, mourning, audible expression of sorrow," from Old French plainte "lament, lamentation" (12c.), from Latin planctus "lamentation, wailing, beating of the breast," from past-participle stem of plangere "to lament; to strike (the breast, in grief or mourning)," from PIE root *plak- (2) "to strike." The connecting notion in Latin probably is beating one's breast in grief. Meaning "complaint, murmuring, grumbling" is from late 14c. Sense of "lawsuit, legal complaint, statement of grievances made to a court for the purpose of asking redress" is from late 14c.

plaintive(adj.)

late 14c., "lamenting, complaining, giving utterance to sorrow or grief," from Old French plaintif "complaining; wretched, miserable," from plainte (see plaint). Sense of "expressive of sorrow or melancholy, mournful, sad" is recorded from 1570s. Earlier was pleintful "grievous, lamentable" (early 14c.). Related: Plaintively; plaintiveness.

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    repetition
    early 15c., repeticioun, "act of saying over again," from Old French repetition and directly from Latin repetitionem (nominative repetitio) "a repeating," noun of action from past-participle stem of repetere "do or say again" (see repeat (v.)). Of actions or events recurring or d
    fret
    Old English fretan "devour, feed upon, consume," from Proto-Germanic compound *fra-etan "to eat up," from *fra- "completely" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "through") + *etan "to eat" (from PIE root *ed- "to eat"). Cognates include Dutch vreten, Old High German frezzan
    profit
    mid-13c., "income derived from an office, property, transaction, etc.;" c. 1300, "benefit, spiritual benefit, advantage;" from Old French prufit, porfit "profit, gain" (mid-12c.), from Latin profectus "growth, advance, increase, success, progress," noun use of past participle of
    grave
    "excavation in earth for reception of a dead body," Old English græf "grave; ditch, trench; cave," from Proto-Germanic *grafa-/graba- (source also of Old Saxon graf, Old Frisian gref, Old High German grab "grave, tomb;" Old Norse gröf "cave," Gothic graba "ditch"), cognate with O
    soda
    late 15c., sode, "sodium carbonate, an alkaline substance extracted from certain ashes" (now made artificially), from Italian sida (or Medieval Latin soda), in reference to a kind of saltwort from which soda was obtained, a word of uncertain origin. Perhaps it is from a Catalan s
    risk
    1660s, risque, "hazard, danger, peril, exposure to mischance or harm," from French risque (16c.), from Italian risco, riscio (modern rischio), from riscare "run into danger," a word of uncertain origin. The Englished spelling is recorded by 1728. Spanish riesgo and German Risiko

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