claim

Meanings

Noun

• A demand of ownership made for something.
• The thing claimed.
• The right or ground of demanding.
• 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.
• A demand of ownership for previously unowned land.
• A legal demand for compensation or damages.

Verb

• To demand ownership of.
• To state a new fact, typically without providing evidence to prove it is true.
• To demand ownership or right to use for land.
• To demand compensation or damages through the courts.
• To be entitled to anything; to deduce a right or title; to have a claim.
• To cause the loss of, usually by violent means.
• To proclaim.
• To call or name.

Origin

• From Middle English claimen, borrowed from Old French clamer ("to call, name, send for"), from Latin clamo ("to call, cry out"), 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 ("to call, convoke"), κλέδον, κέλαδος, Middle Irish cailech ("cock"), Latin calō ("to call out, announce solemnly"), Sanskrit उषःकल ("cock"). Cognate with Spanish llamar and clamar.