Claimant

How to spell claimant

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce claimant

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does claimant mean?

1. nounA person who makes a claim, especially for money, a benefit, or a legal right.

Claimant in a sentence

• The insurance company asked the claimant to submit photographs of the damage.

• Each claimant must provide proof of identity before the benefit is paid.

Where does claimant come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Claimant comes from the verb 'claim', which English took from Old French clamer, itself from the Latin clamare, meaning 'to call out' or 'to cry out loudly'. The idea was that a person stating a right or demand was, in effect, calling it out for all to hear. The suffix '-ant' comes from Latin present participle endings (-ans, -antis) and marks the person who performs the action, just as it does in 'applicant' and 'defendant'. The noun took its modern legal shape in English around the early 1700s, particularly in the language of courts, insurance, and welfare, where a claimant is the one putting forward a claim. The same clamare root sits behind a whole family of relatives, including 'exclaim', 'proclaim', and 'clamour', and noticing that shared 'claim' core is the surest way to remember the spelling.

How the word is built

• claim (from Latin clamare: to call out, cry out)
• -ant (noun suffix: one who does)