Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A complaint.
  • noun An utterance of grief or sorrow; a lamentation.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Lamentation; complaint; audible expression of sorrow; a sad or serious song.
  • noun Representation made of injury or wrong done; complaint.
  • noun In law: A statement of grievance made to a court for the purpose of asking redress.
  • noun The first process in an inferior court, in the nature of original process.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint; hence, a mournful song; a lament.
  • noun An accusation or protest on account of an injury.
  • noun (Law) A private memorial tendered to a court, in which a person sets forth his cause of action; the exhibiting of an action in writing.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A lament or woeful cry.
  • noun A complaint.
  • noun An accusation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun (United Kingdom) a written statement of the grounds of complaint made to court of law asking for the grievance to be redressed
  • noun a cry of sorrow and grief

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French plainte, from Latin plānctus, lament, from past participle of plangere, to strike one's breast, lament; see plāk- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English plainte, from Anglo-Norman plainte ("lamentation"), plaint ("lament"), and Old French pleinte ("lamentation"), pleint ("lament") (modern French plainte), from Medieval Latin plancta ("plaint"), Latin planctus ("a beating of the breast in lamentation, beating, lamentation"), from Latin plangere ("to beat the breast, lament"); see plain.

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