Petitioner

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pəˈtɪʃənɚ/

Definitions

1. A person who makes a formal request to seek legal action or assistance from a court or authority
2. An individual who formally requests something from a legal authority or seeks relief through the legal process
3. Someone who approaches a court or official with a specific request or seeks to initiate legal proceedings

Etymology: The thing that makes "petitioner" interesting is how it is built: it is the English word "petition" with the agent suffix "-er" attached, so its meaning is simply "one who petitions." The word "petition" came into English through Middle English from Old French "peticion," which was itself from Latin "petītiōnem," the accusative form of "petītiō," meaning a seeking or asking, from "petere," to seek or aim at. The Latin root carries the sense of heading toward something and asking for it, which is still visible in the modern meaning. The suffix does its work in English. The "-er" ending came down through Old English "-ere" and Middle English "-er," and it attaches to a verb or noun to name the person who performs an action. So "petition" plus "-er" yields a name for the person who makes a formal request, whether to a court, a legislature, or an authority. "Petitioner" and "petitionary" are doublets, two words descended from the same source that took different paths into English.

Synonyms: applicant, claimant, requester, candidate, seeker