litigate

English

Etymology

First attested in 1606; borrowed from Latin lītigātus, perfect passive participle of lītigō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from līs (“a lawsuit”, oblique stem in līt-) + -igō (denominative verb-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪtɪɡeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

litigate (third-person singular simple present litigates, present participle litigating, simple past and past participle litigated)

1. (intransitive, construed with on) To go to law; to carry on a lawsuit.
   • 1988, “Don't Worry, Be Happy”, in Bobby McFerrin (lyrics), Simple Pleasures, performed by Bobby McFerrin:

     Ain't got no place to lay your head / Somebody came and took your bed / Don't worry, be happy / The landlord say your rent is late / He may have to litigate

2. (transitive) To contest in law.
3. (transitive, transferred sense) To dispute; to fight over.

   you can't keep litigating this same point!

Derived terms

• litigable
• litigation
• litigative
• litigatory
• nonlitigating
• outlitigate
• overlitigate
• relitigate
• unlitigated

Translations

to go to law — see also sue,‎ prosecute

Bulgarian: съдя се (sǎdja se) Catalan: litigar (ca) Danish: retsforfølge, procedere Dutch: procederen (nl), voor de rechter dagen Finnish: käräjöidä (fi) (+ elative), käydä oikeutta (+ elative) German: prozessieren (de) Latin: lītigō Maori: hāmene Polish: procesować się impf, sądzić się impf Portuguese: litigar (pt) Russian: суди́ться (ru) (sudítʹsja) Spanish: litigar (es) Vietnamese: kiện tụng (vi), kiện cáo (vi)

Ido

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /litiˈɡate/

Verb

litigate

1. adverbial present passive participle of litigar

Italian

Etymology 1

Noun

litigate f pl

1. plural of litigata

Etymology 2

Verb

litigate

1. inflection of litigare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 3

Participle

litigate f pl

1. feminine plural of litigato

Anagrams

• aglietti

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [liː.tɪˈɡaː.tɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [li.tiˈɡaː.te]

Participle

lītigāte

1. vocative masculine singular of lītigātus

Spanish

Verb

litigate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of litigar combined with te