Etymology
1. c.1300, from O.Fr.
clamer "to call, claim," from L.
clamare "to cry out, shout," from PIE
*kla-, *kele- "to shout," onomatopoeic (cf. Gk.
kikleskein "to call," O.E.
hlowan "make a noise like a cow"). The noun meaning "piece of land allotted and taken" (chiefly U.S. and Australia, in reference to mining) is from 1851.
Claim properly should not stray too far from its true meaning of "to demand recognition of a right." Insurance sense is from 1878.
2. From Middle English claimen, borrowed from Old French clamer (“to call, name, send for”), from Latin clāmō, clāmāre (“to call, cry out”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to shout”), which is imitative.
3. 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 (kaléō, “to call, convoke”), κλέδον (klédon, “report, fame”), κέλαδος (kélados, “noise”), Middle Irish cailech (“cock”), Latin calō (“to call out, announce solemnly”), Sanskrit उषःकल (uṣaḥkala, “cock”, literally “dawn-calling”). Cognate with Spanish llamar and clamar. See: Old French '
clamer', Latin '
clamo', Old High German 'halan', Greek, Ancient '
καλέω', Latin '
calō', Spanish '
llamar'.
Verbs referencing "claim"
Spanish
llamar, Valencian
clamar, Spanish
clamar, Dutch
claimen, Thai
เคลม, Indonesian
klaim.