LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
English → Latin

“complaint” in Latin

The English word complaint itself goes back to Latin plangō, through planctus.

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

complaint
expression of sorrow, vexation, etc., at some untoward occurrence, etc.: questus (the state of complaining): querimonia (complaint of what one has really suffered: the object being redress or satisfaction): querela (complaint as an act of, often blamable, feeling, intended, for the most part, to ease the heart): lamentatio: lamentum (as displayed by any loud utterance of grief or other signs of affliction, the first as action, the latter complaint, itself): plangor: planctus (the beating of the breast, arms, etc.); (the words are found in this connexion and order.) plangor et lamentatio: quiritatus (loud lament): vagitus (that of children): gemitus (a deep sigh; groan); (the words are found in this connexion and order.) gemitus et lamentatio: useless complaints, querelae inertes; lamentatio inutilis: a letter full of complaints, epistola querelarum plena: complaints against the times, querela temporum: to break out into complaints, lamentari: about anything, queri aliquid (e.g., about one’s fate, fatum suum or fortunas suas): against the gods, querimonias facere in deos: to utter complaints incessantly, lamentis se dedere; lamentis vacare: to fill the forum with one’s complaints, plangore et lamentatione complere forum: not to be able to bear anybody’s complaints, querimonias alicujus sustinere non posse: to die without uttering a complaint, non miserabiliter emori.
Complaint, against anybody or anything a complaint (in general): querela (expression or utterance of dissatisfaction about real or imaginary wrong): querimonia (when one wishes a real injury to be redressed): expostulatio (a calling anybody to an account): complaint, about anything, querela (querimonia) alicujus rei or de re (e.g., about a crime, querimonia criminis: about injuries, querela or querimonia de injuriis): complaint to anybody, querela cum aliquo: to prefer a complaint about anything, queri or conqueri aliquid or de re; to anybody, cum aliquo (in Cic., never apud aliquem); expostulare de re, to anybody, cum aliquo (call to an account); (the words are found in this connexion and order.) expostulare et queri; with quod and accusative and infinitive: to bandy loud complaints, querimonias ultro citroque jactare: to lodge a complaint with anybody, querimoniam or querelam deferre ad aliquem: no cause or ground of complaint had ever arisen, nulla umquam (inter eos) querimonia intercessit: anything is a reasonable ground for complaint, aliquid nonnullam habet querelam.
Complaint before a court, magistrate, etc.: querimonia. querela (complaint of injury suffered): criminatio (complaint, as attributing the cause of anything to anybody): delatio nominis (the act of naming to the judge the person against whom one is going to lodge a complaint) periculum (complaint as to the danger in which the accused finds himself): actio (the legal procedure in general, as well in criminal as civil matters; then also the usual speech of the complainant): accusatio (complaint as accusation, which is brought before the court, especially in criminal cases; also the speech usual upon that occasion): petitio: postulatio (the complaint in civil matters, as legal claim against anybody): vindicatio (civil suit in any matter): condictio (civil suit against anybody about both, Vid: Ulpius, Dig., 44, 7, 24): formula (the prescribed form of the complaint): libellus (the written accusation): OBSERVE, dica (δίκη) = actio, occurs only when a Greek court is spoken of: A malicious or unfounded complaint, calumnia: to lodge a complaint with anybody, querimoniam or querelam deferre ad aliquem: to lodge a complaint, actionem instituere: lege agere: in jus vocare (in general, especially, however, in civil matters): accusationem comparare constituereque: accusationem comparare et instruere (in criminal matters) [Vid: ACTION].
Disease, morbus; vid: ILLNESS.

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for complaint?
The usual Latin words for “complaint” are queror, querimōnia, querēla; also lāmentātiō, lāmentum, plangō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.