attorney

English

Etymology

Old French atornee, feminine past participle of atorner (to prepare, to ready), compare attorn

Pronunciation

• SAMPA: /@"t3`nI/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)ni

Noun

attorney (plural attorneys)

1. (law) In the United States, a lawyer; one who advises or represents others in legal matters as a profession.
2. An agent or representative authorized to act on someone else's behalf.

   Usage note: In this sense, the word is now used to refer to nonlawyers usually only in fixed phrases such as attorney-in-fact or power of attorney.

Synonyms

• mouthpiece (slang)
• advocate

Derived terms

attorney general attorney-in-fact attorney-at-law

patent attorney power of attorney (POA)

Translations

lawyer

Arabic: محامٍ (muħāmin) m. Armenian: փաստաբան (hy) (p’astaban), իրավաբան (hy) (iravaban) Chinese: Mandarin: 律师 (cmn) Czech: advokát (cs) m. Dutch: advocaat (nl) m. and f. Finnish: asianajaja (fi) French: avocat (fr) m. German: Rechtsanwalt (de) m. Hebrew: פרקליט (praqlyt') m., פרקליטה (praqlit'a) f., עֹרֵךְ דִּין (he) (orekh din) m., עֹרֶכֶת דִּין (he) (orekhet din) f.

Hungarian: ügyész (hu) Icelandic: lögfræðingur (is) m. Italian: avvocato (it) Japanese: 弁護士 (bengoshi) Portuguese: advogado (pt) m., advogada (pt) f. Russian: адвокат (ru) Spanish: abogado (es) m., abogada (es) f., notario (es) m. Swedish: advokat (sv) c. Telugu: న్యాయవాది (te) (nyaayavaadi) Urdu: وکیل (ur) (vakeel) m. and f.

agent/representative

Armenian: հավատարմատար (hy) (havatarmatar) Chinese: Mandarin: 代理 (cmn)

Finnish: oikeudenkäyntiasiamies (fi), asiamies (fi) Icelandic: fulltrúi (is) m., umboðsmaður (is) m. Russian: представитель (ru), поверенный (ru)