noun
Meaning 1
A complaint.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
plaint
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
-
UK: /pleɪnt/
-
Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
-
rhymes with -eɪnt
noun
Meaning 2
A lament or woeful cry.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, poetic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A sad song.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
An accusation.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, archaic
Topics: law
Examples
- Once the plaint had been made there was nothing that could be done to revoke it.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
a cry of sorrow and grief
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- their pitiful laments could be heard throughout the ward
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: lament, lamentation, wail
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: complaint
noun
Meaning 6
(United Kingdom) a written statement of the grounds of complaint made to court of law asking for the grievance to be redressed
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: allegation
History
Etymology
From Middle English plainte, borrowed from Anglo-Norman plainte (“lamentation”), plaint (“lament”), and Old French pleinte (“lamentation”), pleint (“lament”) (modern French plainte), from Medieval Latin plancta (“plaint”), from Latin planctus (“a beating of the breast in lamentation, beating, lamentation”), from Latin plango (“to beat one's breast, to lament”); see plain.