Claiming

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈkleɪmɪŋ/

Definitions

1. Stating or asserting ownership or a right to something ; demanding something as a right or due, often officially or formally
2. Declaring that one has a right to possess or receive something ; formally requesting or requiring what is owed or deserved
3. Expressing an intention or right to have or own something ; insisting on receiving a particular benefit, entitlement, or property

Etymology: "Claiming" is the present participle of "claim", so its story is really the story of the verb. English took "claimen" in Middle English from Old French "clamer", meaning "to call, name, send for", and that French word came from Latin "clamare", "to call out or cry out". Behind the Latin lies an ancient imitative root that echoed a loud shout, a sound-based origin shared with "low" in the sense of a cow's bellow. The sense of demanding or asserting a right developed from the older idea of calling out or summoning. To claim something was once to call it toward yourself, to proclaim your entitlement loudly enough for others to hear. The legal and everyday sense of asserting ownership grew out of that act of publicly calling for what was yours.

Synonyms: asserting, declaring, maintaining, stating, professing

Antonyms: denying, rejecting, disavowing, abjuring, repudiating