plaintiff

P3L1A1I1N1T1I1F4F4
/ˈpleɪntɪf/

noun

A party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant; accuser.

Similar
actorclaimantcomplainantlitigantpursuer
Opposite
defendant
OriginMiddle English plaintif ← Old French plaintif →
CommonScrabble 17
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Meanings

nounplaintiff (plural plaintiffs)

plural plaintiffs

  1. UKhistoricalotherwise currentlawA party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant; accuser.

    Synonyms: actor, claimant, complainant, litigant, pursuer · Antonyms: defendant

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant; accuser.

Similar
actorclaimantcomplainantlitigantpursuer
Opposite
defendant

More synonyms by meaning

nouna person who brings an action in a court of law

Similar
complainant
Opposite
defendant
Broader
litigantlitigator
Also see
actorcomplainantsuitor

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchplaintif“complaining”; as a noun, “one who complains, a plaintiff”
  2. Middle Englishplaintif
  3. Englishplaintiff

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.

More words from Middle English, Old French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مُدَّعٍ, الْمُدَّعِي
  • مُدَّعٍ (muddaʕin)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • الْمُدَّعِي (al-muddaʕī)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Bengali মুদ্দই
  • মুদ্দই (muddoi)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Bulgarian тъжи́тел, тъжи́телка
  • тъжи́тел (tăžítel)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • тъжи́телка (tăžítelka)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • ище́ц (ištéc)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • ищца́ (ištcá)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Chinese Cantonese 原告
  • 原告 (jyun⁴ gou³)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Chinese Mandarin 原告
  • 原告 (yuángào)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Czech žalobce, žalobkyně
  • žalobceparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • žalobkyněparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Danish sagsøger
  • sagsøgerparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Dutch eiser, aanklager
  • eiserparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • aanklagerparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Esperanto plendanto
  • plendantoparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Estonian hageja
  • hagejaparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Finnish kantaja
  • kantajaparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
French demandeur, demandeuse
  • demandeurparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • demandeuseparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • plaignantparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • plaignanteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
German Kläger, Klägerin
  • Klägerparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • Klägerinparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Hebrew תּוֹבֵעַ
  • תּוֹבֵעַ (tovéa)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Hindi अभियोगी, वादी
  • अभियोगी (abhiyogī)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • वादी (vādī)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • याचिकाकर्ता (yācikākartā)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • याचक (yācak)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Hungarian felperes
  • felperesparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Icelandic stefnandi
  • stefnandiparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Indonesian penggugat
  • penggugatparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Irish éilitheoir, gearánaí
  • éilitheoirparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • gearánaíparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Italian querelante, parte civile
  • querelanteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • parte civileparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • ricorrenteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • attoreparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Japanese 原告
  • 原告 (genkoku)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Korean 원고
  • 원고 (won'go)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Latin petītor, petītrix
  • petītorparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • petītrixparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Latvian prasītājs, prasītāja
  • prasītājsparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • prasītājaparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Lithuanian ieškovas, ieškovė
  • ieškovasparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • ieškovėparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Malay plaintif
  • plaintifparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Māori kaiwhakapae
  • kaiwhakapaeparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Norwegian Bokmål saksøker
  • saksøkerparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Persian خواهان, شاکی
  • خواهان (xâhân)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • شاکی (šâki)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • دعویٰ گر (da'vâ gar)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • دعویٰ دار (da'vâ dâr)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • مدعی (modda'i)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Polish powód, powódka
  • powódparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • powódkaparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Portuguese querelante, requerente
  • querelanteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • requerenteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • acusaçãoparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • promotoriaparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Romanian reclamant, reclamantă
  • reclamantparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • reclamantăparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Russian исте́ц
  • исте́ц (istéc)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Slovak žalobca, žalobkyňa
  • žalobcaparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • žalobkyňaparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Spanish demandante, querellante
  • demandanteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • querellanteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • denuncianteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • denunciadorparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • litiganteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • pleiteanteparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Swedish kärande
  • kärandeparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Tagalog nagsasakdal
  • nagsasakdalparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Thai โจทก์
  • โจทก์ (jòot)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Turkish davacı, iddiacı
  • davacıparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • iddiacıparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Ukrainian позива́ч, пози́вач
  • позива́ч (pozyváč)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • пози́вач (pozývač)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • позива́чка (pozyváčka)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • пози́вачка (pozývačka)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Urdu مُدَّعِی
  • مُدَّعِی (mudda'ī)party bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Vietnamese nguyên cáo, nguyên đơn
  • nguyên cáoparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • nguyên đơnparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Welsh achwynydd, achwynwr
  • achwynyddparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
  • achwynwrparty bringing a suit in civil law against a defendant
Cite this entry
APA

plaintiff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plaintiff

MLA

“plaintiff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plaintiff. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “plaintiff,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/plaintiff.

Source: plaintiff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.