English
plaint
Plaint comes from Anglo-Norman plainte ‘lamentation’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k- ‘to strike’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂k-‘to strike’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plāngōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplango‘to beat one's breast, to lament’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplanctus‘a beating of the breast in lamentation, beating, lamentation’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500plancta
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400plainte‘lamentation’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plainte
- Englishearliest quotation 1827plaint
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pleh₂k-‘to strike’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plāngōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEplango‘to beat one's breast, to lament’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEplanctus‘a beating of the breast in lamentation, beating, lamentation’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500plancta
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400plainte‘lamentation’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500plainte
- Englishearliest quotation 1827plaint
Earliest quotation: 1827, Maria Elizabeth Budden, Nina: “In the first paroxysm of his grief, Ingolfr exclaimed,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k- ‘to strike’
launch, plant, lance, fling, 11 more
through Latin plango ‘to beat one's breast, to lament’
Today it means
noun A complaint.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k- / plaint