complainant

English

Alternative forms

• complainaunt (obsolete, rare)

Etymology

From Old French complaignant, present participle of complaindre.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəmˈpleɪnənt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

complainant (plural complainants)

1. One who makes complaint, one who complains.
   • 1708-1714 Jeremy Collier, Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain

     Eager complainants […] in the dispute.

   • 1962 August, “Let's have plain speaking”, in Modern Railways, page 73:

     The Southern Region takes, in the main, a candid line with its public. [...] An ill-informed attempt to blackguard the railway publicly is likely to see the complainant put politely—but very firmly—in his place.

2. (law) The party that brings a civil lawsuit against another; the plaintiff.
3. (law) An alleged victim in a criminal investigation or trial.

Synonyms

• (law, litigation): (in civil proceedings) claimant
• (law): (in criminal proceedings) plaintiff

Antonyms

• (law, litigation): (in civil or criminal proceedings) defendant
• (law, litigation): (in civil proceedings) respondent

Derived terms

• countercomplainant

 

Translations

plaintiff

• Bulgarian: тъжител (bg) m (tǎžitel), ищец (bg) m (ištec)
• Esperanto: plendanto
• Finnish: kantaja (fi)
• French: plaignant (fr) m
• Georgian: მოსარჩელე (mosarčele)
• Hungarian: felperes (hu)
• Irish: gearánach m, gearánaí m, éilitheoir m
• Maori: kaiwhakapae
• Polish: powód (pl) m
• Russian: исте́ц (ru) m (istéc)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: жалилац m, подносилац жалбе m

  Roman: žalilac (sh) m, podnosilac žalbe m, podnosioc žalbe m

• Spanish: demandante (es) m or f, querellante (es) m or f
• Swahili: mlalamishi (sw)
• Swedish: klagande (sv) c
• Telugu: ఫిర్యాది (te) (phiryādi)
• Welsh: achwynydd m, achwynwr m