Plaintiff

//ˈpleɪntɪf// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant; accuser. UK, historical
  2. 2
    a person who brings an action in a court of law wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
complainantcomplainantaccessoryaccusantaccuseractor

Example

More examples

"The judge decided against the plaintiff."

Etymology

From Middle English plaintif, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French plaintif (“complaining”; as a noun, “one who complains, a plaintiff”) from the verb plaindre. Doublet of plaintive.

Related phrases

plaintiff in errorcivil law

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.