Claim

How to spell claim

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce claim

What does claim mean?

1. verbTo assert that something is true, or to formally demand something as a right.
2. nounA statement asserting something as true, or a formal request for money or a right.

Claim in a sentence

• verb

  The company will claim that its figures are accurate.

• noun

  The insurance claim took three weeks to process.

• verb

  You can claim a refund if the goods arrive damaged.

• noun

  Her claim that the bill was already paid proved correct.

Where does claim come from?

Language of origin: French

This word travelled into English in the early 1300s from the Old French verb clamer, sometimes spelled claimer, meaning to call out or to demand. The French form descended from the Latin verb clamare, which literally meant to cry out or shout aloud. The idea of shouting a demand is what carried the word toward its modern sense of formally asserting a right to something. The same Latin root sits inside a whole family of relatives, including clamour, exclaim, proclaim, and acclaim, all of which still echo that original meaning of crying out. The 'ai' spelling preserves the older French diphthong; remembering the link to exclaim, where the 'ai' is also pronounced, helps fix that vowel pairing in the mind.

How the word is built

• claim (from Latin clamare: to cry out, call out)