complainer
/kəmˈpleɪnə/kuhm-PLAY-nur
/kəmˈpleɪnɚ/kuhm-PLAY-nur
Meaningone that laments
Common meaning: a person or thing that complains
- comwith, together
- plainto beat the breast; to lamentLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1384 · scan
- eragent ending: one who
‘with, together’ + ‘to beat the breast’ → complainer
Journey through time
- Latinplangō, planctum‘to beat the breast’
- Frenchcom
- Englishcomplain‘to voice dissatisfaction’
- Englishformed in English from complaincomplainer‘a person or thing that complains’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: one that laments. It can be inferred from any of: complain.
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from complain + -er (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- plangō, planctum Latin “to beat the breast; to lament”
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