claim
pronunciation
How to pronounce claim in British English:
UK [kleɪm]
How to pronounce claim in American English:
US [kleɪm]
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- Noun:
- an assertion of a right (as to money or property)
- an assertion that something is true or factual
- demand for something as rightful or due
- an informal right to something
- an established or recognized right
- a demand especially in the phrase "the call of duty"
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- Verb:
- assert or affirm strongly; state to be true or existing
- demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to
- ask for legally or make a legal claim to, as of debts, for example
- lay claim to; as of an idea
- take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs
Word Origin
- claim
- claim: [13] The etymological notion behind claim is of ‘calling out’. It comes from claim-, the present stem of Old French clamer, which goes back to Latin clāmāre ‘cry out, shout’ (whose derived noun clāmor is the source of English clamour [14]). Relatives of clāmāre include clārus (source of English clear) and possibly callāre ‘call out’ (whence English council); and it formed the basis of the English verbs acclaim, exclaim, and proclaim (their spelling was altered through association with claim).These words’ ultimate source was the onomatopoeic Indo- European base *klā-, which also produced low ‘make the noise characteristic of cattle’.=> acclaim, clamour, clear, council, exclaim, low, proclaim
- claim (v.)
- c. 1300, "to call, call out; to ask or demand by virtue of right or authority," from accented stem of Old French clamer "to call, name, describe; claim; complain; declare," from Latin clamare "to cry out, shout, proclaim," from PIE *kele- (2) "to shout," imitative (compare Sanskrit usakala "cock," literally "dawn-calling;" Latin calare "to announce solemnly, call out;" Middle Irish cailech "cock;" Greek kalein "to call," kelados "noise," kledon "report, fame;" Old High German halan "to call;" Old English hlowan "to low, make a noise like a cow;" Lithuanian kalba "language"). Related: Claimed; claiming. Meaning "to maintain as true" is from 1864; specific sense "to make a claim" (on an insurance company) is from 1897. Claim properly should not stray too far from its true meaning of "to demand recognition of a right."
- claim (n.)
- early 14c., "a demand of a right; right of claiming," from Old French claime "claim, complaint," from clamer (see claim (v.)). Meaning "thing claimed or demanded" is from 1792; specifically "piece of land allotted and taken" (chiefly U.S. and Australia, in reference to mining) is from 1851. Insurance sense is from 1878.