complainant

• complainaunt (obsolete, rare)

From Old French complaignant, present participle of complaindre.

• IPA^(key): /kəmˈpleɪnənt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

complainant (plural complainants)

1. (law) The party that brings a civil lawsuit against another; the plaintiff.
2. (law) An alleged victim in a criminal investigation or trial.
3. One who makes complaint.
   • 1708-1714 Jeremy Collier, Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain

     Eager complainants […] in the dispute.

   • 1962 August, “Let's have plain speaking”, in Modern Railways, page 73:

     The Southern Region takes, in the main, a candid line with its public. [...] An ill-informed attempt to blackguard the railway publicly is likely to see the complainant put politely—but very firmly—in his place.