Plaint

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Plaint \Plaint\, n. [OE. plainte, pleynte, F. plainte, fr. L.
     plangere, planctum (plancta, fem. p. p.), to beat, beat the
     breast, lament. Cf. {Complain}, {Plague}, {Plangent}.]
     1. Audible expression of sorrow; lamentation; complaint;
        hence, a mournful song; a lament. --Chaucer."The
        Psalmist's mournful plaint." --Wordsworth.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. An accusation or protest on account of an injury.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              There are three just grounds of war with Spain: one
              of plaint, two upon defense.          --Bacon.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (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. --Blackstone.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  plaint
       n 1: a written statement of the grounds of complaint made to
            court law asking for the grievance to be redressed
       2: a cry of sorrow and grief; "their pitiful laments could be
          heard throughout the ward" [syn: {lament}, {lamentation},
          {wail}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  55 Moby Thesaurus words for "plaint":
     accusal, accusation, accusing, allegation, allegement, arraignment,
     bawl, bill of particulars, blame, bringing of charges,
     bringing to book, charge, complaint, count, cry, delation,
     denouncement, denunciation, dolorous tirade, groan, howl,
     impeachment, implication, imputation, indictment, information,
     innuendo, insinuation, jeremiad, keen, lament, lawsuit,
     laying of charges, moan, murmur, mutter, outcry, planctus,
     prosecution, reproach, scream, sob, suit, taxing, tirade,
     true bill, ululation, unspoken accusation, veiled accusation, wail,
     wail of woe, whimper, whine, yawp, yowl
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  PLAINT, Eng. law. The exhibiting of any action, real or personal, in 
  writing; the party making his plaint is called the plaintiff.