The plaintive [ˈpleɪntɪv] call of the loon, as though it were mourning some bygone age, drifted across the lake.

plaintive
adj [ˈpleɪntɪv]

Something (usually a sound) that is described as plaintive is expressive of sorrow or suffering.

Plaintive comes from the Middle English word plaintif, meaning “grieving,” a borrowing from an identical Anglo-French word that itself was formed from the Anglo-French noun plaint, a word meaning “lamentation.”

Plaintif is the source too of the familiar legal term plaintiff, which refers to someone who presents a legal action or complaint to a court.

English