implead

C2+ Topic:Law & Government

US /ɪmˈplid/ UK /ɪmˈpliːd/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to bring a legal action against; to sue in a court of law

The defendant moved to implead a third party in the suit.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to bring a legal action... sue prosecute indict arraign litigate accuse

Opposites

acquit absolve

Word family

Forms impleaded

Derived forms impleaderimpleadedimpleading

Related forms plead plea pleading

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman empleder, from Old French empleidier, from in- ('in') + plaidier ('to plead'), from Medieval Latin placitare, from placitum ('decree, plea').

plaidier Old French placitum la-med

View etymology graph ->

External links

# implead

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ɪmˈplid/
**IPA (UK):** /ɪmˈpliːd/

## Meanings
1. to bring a legal action against; to sue in a court of law

## Examples
- The defendant moved to implead a third party in the suit.

## Synonyms
- sue
- prosecute
- indict
- arraign
- litigate
- accuse

## Antonyms
- acquit
- absolve

## Derived Forms
- impleader
- impleaded
- impleading

## Related Forms
- plead
- plea
- pleading

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: plaidier
- Root: placitum

## Etymology
From Anglo-Norman empleder, from Old French empleidier, from in- ('in') + plaidier ('to plead'), from Medieval Latin placitare, from placitum ('decree, plea').

## AI Etymology
implead comes from Anglo-Norman empleder, from Old French empleidier, from in- ('in') + plaidier ('to plead'), from Medieval Latin placitare, from placitum ('decree, plea'). Morphologically, the prefixed shape matters: the initial element belongs to the recorded formation and helps explain the modern form's surface analysis. In present English, the verb sense is "to bring a legal action against; to sue in a court of law", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as plead, plea, and pleading, and in derivatives such as impleader, impleaded, and impleading. Its semantic neighborhood includes sue, prosecute, indict, and arraign, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Old French plaidier and Latin placitum.

## Topics
- Law & Government

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implead

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