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claim

noun, verb — 15 senses

claim

noun

/kleɪm/

Etymology

From Middle English claimen, borrowed from Old French clamer (“to call, name, send for”), from Latin clāmō, clāmāre (“to call, cry out”), from Proto-Italic *klāmāō, from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to shout”), which is imitative. See also Lithuanian kalba (“language”), Old English hlōwan (“to low, make a noise like a cow”), Old High German halan (“to call”), Ancient Greek καλέω (kaléō, “to call, convoke”), κλέδον (klédon, “report, fame”), κέλαδος (kélados, “noise”), Middle Irish cailech (“cock”), Latin calō (“to call out, announce solemnly”), Sanskrit उषःकल (uṣaḥkala, “cock”, literally “dawn-calling”). Cognate with Spanish llamar and clamar.

1

A demand of ownership made for something.

  • a claim of ownership
  • a claim of victory
2

The thing claimed.

3

The right or ground of demanding.

  • You don't have any claim on my time, since I'm no longer your employee.
4

A new statement of something one believes to be the truth, usually when the statement has yet to be verified or without valid evidence provided.

  • The company's share price dropped amid claims of accounting fraud.
  • Bailey, in using accents, felt that he was 'directing to their proper pronuntiation' and showing 'the Orthoepia of the English Tongue' (title page, Dictionarium Britannicum, 1730 edition). The claim is ridiculous.1946, Esther K. Sheldon, “Pronouncing Systems in Eighteenth-Century Dictionaries”, in Language, volume 22, number 1, Linguistic Society of America, →DOI, page 28:
1 more example
  • The thing is, we've even had formal confirmation from Government itself that the crucial research required to make such sweeping claims hasn't been done!2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:
5

A demand of ownership for previously unowned land.

  • Miners had to stake their claims during the gold rush.
6

Law A legal demand for compensation or damages.

Derived terms
32 termsambit claim, baggage claim, Beauregard claim, claim chart, claim form, claim jumper, claim-jumping, claimless, claim shanty, claimstaker, claim to fame, clamatory, contingent claim, counterclaim, crossclaim, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, face claim, foreclaim, healthcare claim, inclamation, Jepson claim, jump a claim, lay claim, Markush claim, misclaim, multiclaim, nonclaim, quit claim deed, stake a claim, statement of claim, subclaim, third-party claim

claim

verb
Etymology

From Middle English claimen, borrowed from Old French clamer (“to call, name, send for”), from Latin clāmō, clāmāre (“to call, cry out”), from Proto-Italic *klāmāō, from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to shout”), which is imitative. See also Lithuanian kalba (“language”), Old English hlōwan (“to low, make a noise like a cow”), Old High German halan (“to call”), Ancient Greek καλέω (kaléō, “to call, convoke”), κλέδον (klédon, “report, fame”), κέλαδος (kélados, “noise”), Middle Irish cailech (“cock”), Latin calō (“to call out, announce solemnly”), Sanskrit उषःकल (uṣaḥkala, “cock”, literally “dawn-calling”). Cognate with Spanish llamar and clamar.

9 senses
  1. 1To demand ownership of.
  2. 2To state a new fact, typically without providing…
  3. 3To demand ownership or right to use for land.
  4. 4To demand compensation or damages through the courts.
  5. 5To be entitled to anything; to deduce a right or title…
  6. 6To cause the loss of.
  7. 7To win as a prize in a sport or competition.
  8. 8To proclaim.
  9. 9To call or name.
1

To demand ownership of.

  • Jeffrey Chuang, an economics student at University College London, said: "I am for independence. I do not think China has any right to claim Taiwan. We have confidence in our country and we know that China is not capable of doing anything to us."1996 March 15, Leyla Linton, “London students sing their defiance”, in The Times, number 65,528, →ISSN, →OCLC, Overseas News, page 14, columns 1, 2:
2

To state a new fact, typically without providing evidence to prove it is true.

3

To demand ownership or right to use for land.

4

Law To demand compensation or damages through the courts.

5

To be entitled to anything; to deduce a right or title; to have a claim.

  • We must know how the first ruler, from whom any one claims, came by his authority, upon what ground any one has empire1689 December (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], chapter 1, in Two Treatises of Government: […], London: […] Awnsham Churchill, […], →OCLC:
6

To cause the loss of.

  • The attacks claimed the lives of five people.
  • A fire claimed two homes.
7

To win as a prize in a sport or competition.

  • He claimed $100 after winning the top spot.
8

Obsolete To proclaim.

9

Archaic To call or name.

  • Nor all, that else through all the world is named[…] / Might like to this be clamed.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Derived terms
and I claim my five pounds, claimability, claimee, claiming bite, claiming mark, claim someone's lifeclaiming race, counterclaim, crossclaim, fakeclaim, foreclaim, misclaim, overclaim, unclaim, underclaim
Related terms
claimable, claimant, claimer, disclaim, disclaimer

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.

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