plaintiff
a person who starts a legal action
TRANSLATION
der Kläger, die Klägerin - als Geschädigter; der Antragsteller
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Plaintiff Gets OK to Post Documents on Web Site - A plaintiff in a federal lawsuit cannot be stopped from opening an Internet Web site where he posts every document in his case -- including full transcripts of all depositions -- a federal judge ruled Wednesday."
(Shannon P. Duffy in The Legal Intelligencer - July 28, 2000)
(Shannon P. Duffy in The Legal Intelligencer - July 28, 2000)
Did you
know?
The words "plaintiff" and "complain" are probably distantly related. "Complain" is thought to derive ultimately from "plangere," a Latin word meaning "to strike, beat one's breast, or lament." "Plangere" is an ancestor of "plaintiff" too.
"Plaintiff" comes most immediately from the Middle English "plaintif," itself a Middle French borrowing; in Middle French, "plaintif" functioned both as a noun and as an adjective meaning "lamenting, complaining."
Logically enough, "plaintiff" applies to the one who does the complaining in a legal case.
The opposite of plaintiff is defendant = der Angeklagte, der Beklagte
"Plaintiff" comes most immediately from the Middle English "plaintif," itself a Middle French borrowing; in Middle French, "plaintif" functioned both as a noun and as an adjective meaning "lamenting, complaining."
Logically enough, "plaintiff" applies to the one who does the complaining in a legal case.
The opposite of plaintiff is defendant = der Angeklagte, der Beklagte
