The story
- Old French · derived frompleintif“aggrieved, lamenting”
- Middle English · inherited frompleintif
- English todayplaintive
From Middle English pleintif, plentyff, from Old French pleintif (“aggrieved, lamenting”) (whence modern French plaintif), from plainte (“lament, complaint”); see plaint. Doublet of plaintiff.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.