litigation (n.)

"act of carrying on a lawsuit," 1640s, from Late Latin litigationem (nominative litigatio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin litigare "to dispute, quarrel; sue, go to court," from phrase litem agere "to drive a suit," from litem (nominative lis) "lawsuit, dispute, quarrel, strife" (which is of uncertain origin) + agere "to set in motion, drive forward" (from PIE root *ag- "to drive, draw out or forth, move"). The word was earlier in English in a now obsolete sense "disputation" (1560s). Other legal terms in English from Latin lis included litiscontestation (15c.), litispendence (17c.).

also from 1640s

Entries linking to litigation

allege (v.)

c. 1300, "make a formal declaration in court;" mid-14c., "pronounce positively, claim as true," with or without proof; it has the form of one French verb and the meaning of another. The form is Anglo-French aleger, Old French eslegier "to clear at law" (from a compound of Latin ex "out of;" see ex- + litigare "bring suit" (see litigation).

However eslegier meant "acquit, clear of charges in a lawsuit," and the Middle English word somehow acquired the meaning of French alléguer, from Latin allegare/adlegare "send for, bring forth, name, produce in evidence, send on business," from ad "to" (see ad-) + legare "to depute, send" (see legate). Related: Alleged; alleging.

litigant (n.)

1650s; earlier as an adjective (1630s), from French litigant or directly from Latin litigantem (nominative litigans), present participle of litigare "to dispute, quarrel, strive, carry on a suit" (see litigation).

litigator

litigious

*ag-

See all related words (5) >

Trends of litigation

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to Explore

litigious

"fond of engaging in lawsuits," 1620s, from French litigieux and directly from Latin litigiosus "contentious, quarrelsome," from litigium "dispute, strife," from litigare "to dispute, quarrel; sue, go to court" (see litigation). The word was in Middle English with a now-obsolete

pending

sense of Latin pendente (literally "hanging") in the legal phrase pendente lite "while the suit is pending, during the litigation...

question

Also in Middle English "verbal contention, debate; legal proceedings, litigation, accusation."...

case

In law, "an instance of litigation" (late 14c.); in medicine, "an instance of a disease" (late 14c.)....

judicial

late 14c., "of or pertaining to a judge; pertaining to the administration of justice," from Latin iudicialis "of or belonging to a court of justice," from iudicium "judgment, decision of a court of justice," also the court itself, from iudex "a judge," a compound of ius "right, l

decimate

c. 1600, "to select by lot and put to death every tenth man," from Latin decimatus, past participle of decimare "the removal or destruction of one-tenth," from decem "ten" (from PIE root *dekm- "ten"). The killing of one in ten, chosen by lots, from a rebellious city or a mutinou

cipher

late 14c., "arithmetical symbol for zero," from Old French cifre "nought, zero," Medieval Latin cifra, which, with Spanish and Italian cifra, ultimately is from Arabic sifr "zero," literally "empty, nothing," from safara "to be empty;" a loan-translation of Sanskrit sunya-s "empt

brother

"male person in his relation to another person or other persons of either sex born of the same parents," Old English broþor, from Proto-Germanic *brothar (source also of Old Norse broðir, Danish broder, Old Frisian brother, Dutch broeder, Old High German bruodar, German Bruder, G

touch

late 13c., "make deliberate physical contact with," from Old French tochier "to touch, hit, knock; mention, deal with" (11c., Modern French toucher), from Vulgar Latin *toccare "to knock, strike" as a bell (source also of Spanish tocar, Italian toccare), perhaps of imitative orig

pound

[fundamental unit of weight] Old English pund "pound" (in weight or money), also "pint," from Proto-Germanic *punda- "pound" as a measure of weight (source of Gothic pund, Old High German phunt, German Pfund, Middle Dutch pont, Old Frisian and Old Norse pund), an early borrowing

Share litigation

‘cite’

Page URL:

https://www.etymonline.com/word/litigation

HTML Link:

<a href="https://www.etymonline.com/word/litigation">Etymology of litigation by etymonline</a>

APA style:

Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of litigation. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/litigation

Chicago style:

Harper Douglas, “Etymology of litigation,” Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/litigation.

MLA style:

Harper, Douglas. “Etymology of litigation.” Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/litigation. Accessed $(datetimeMla).

IEEE style:

D. Harper. “Etymology of litigation.” Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/litigation (accessed $(datetime)).

updated on September 13, 2018

Remove ads >

Trending words

1. teacher
2. autumn
3. empathy
4. philadelphia
5. research
6. vote
7. pan
8. deluge
9. humble
10. compassion

Dictionary entries near litigation

lithotomy

lithotripsy

Lithuania

litigant

litigate

litigation

litigator

litigious

litmus

litotes

litre