applicant
Pluralapplicants
- 1A person who formally requests something, such as a job, a loan, or admission to a program.
The hiring manager shortlisted five applicants out of more than two hundred.
Every applicant for the scholarship submitted a personal essay.
Similarcandidate
Note
Behind the word sits a Latin present participle, applicans, from applicare, the same verb that gives English apply. An applicant is therefore, quite literally, someone in the act of applying. The older, more formal petitioner covers similar ground, but applicant is the everyday choice for jobs, loans and admissions.
- 2The party that brings a legal action or application against another party before a court or tribunal.
The applicant began proceedings against the city council, which was named as the respondent.
In family court, the applicants requested a revised custody arrangement.
Similarpetitioner, claimant, plaintiff
Oppositerespondent
Note
Law narrows the everyday word to the party who sets proceedings in motion against another. The party on the other side is usually called the respondent, so the two terms work as a pair. The general idea survives intact: the everyday applicant asks for something, and here the asking is addressed to a court.
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Origin
From Latin applicans, the present participle of applicare ("to apply"), and related to the English word apply.