plain·tiff

[pleyn-tif]
noun Law.
a person who brings suit in a court ( opposed to defendant ).

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English plaintif complaining person, noun use of the adj.: plaintive

plain·tiff·ship, noun

plaintiff, plaintive.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
plaintiff (ˈpleɪntɪf) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
Compare defendant Now replaced by: claimant (formerly) a person who brings a civil action in a court of law
 
[C14: from legal French plaintif, from Old French plaintif (adj) complaining, from plainteplaint]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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00:10
Plaintiff is always a great word to know.
So is ort. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

plaintiff
c.1400, from Anglo-Fr. pleintif (1278), noun use of O.Fr. plaintif "complaining," from pleint (see plaint). Identical with plaintive at first; the form that receded into legal usage retained the older -iff spelling.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary

plaintiff definition


The party that institutes a suit in a court. The person or entity the plaintiff sues is the defendant.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
But the most important among them would be the lead plaintiff.
The court dismissed the complaint, saying that the plaintiff didn't show
  sufficient harm to merit the injunction.
The plaintiff was not satisfied, so he cried fraud.
For the plaintiff this has been a painful episode.
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