litigant

UK/ˈlɪtɪɡənt/US/ˈlɪtɪɡənt/

nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,476 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: litigants

A litigant is somebody taking part in a court case. Both litigants, a litigant in person, the litigants agreed.

A litigant in person is one representing themselves, which courts see far more of since legal aid was cut and which slows every case they touch. The word covers both sides rather than only the one bringing the claim.

Definitions of litigant

1nounlitigantSomebody taking part in a court case.C1
“Each litigant must pay their own legal costs, whatever the result.”

litigant is a party.

Where it comes from

Latin litigans comes from litigare, to go to law, from lis, a lawsuit.

Latin
litigans
French
litigant
English, today
litigant

From French litigant, from Middle French -, from Latin litigans.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

litigant in the wild

A single action, even a frivolous one, is usually not enough to raise a litigant to the level of being declared vexatious.
Vexatious litigation
Some jurisdictions have a list of vexatious litigants: people who have repeatedly abused the legal system.
Vexatious litigation
McKenzie Friend Support In England and Wales, a litigant in person may be assisted by a McKenzie Friend, as established in McKenzie v McKenzie.
Litigant in person
The term litigant in person is also used in the similar (but separate) legal systems of Irish law and Northern Irish law.
Litigant in person
In the Athens of antiquity, the law required a litigant to make his case in front of the court with two successive speeches.
Logographer (legal)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

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