lawyer

See also: Lawyer

English

Alternative forms

• lawer (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English lawier, lawyer, lawer, equivalent to law +‎ -yer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔːjə(ɹ)/, /ˈlɔɪ.ə(ɹ)/
• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔɪ.ɚ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔ.jɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɪə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: law‧yer

Noun

lawyer (plural lawyers)

1. A professional person with a graduate law degree that qualifies for legal work (such as Juris Doctor)
2. A professional person qualified (as by a law degree or bar exam) and authorized to practice law as an attorney-at-law, solicitor, advocate, barrister or equivalent, i.e. represent parties in lawsuits or trials and give legal advice.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter II, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     His forefathers had been, as a rule, professional men—physicians and lawyers; his grandfather died under the walls of Chapultepec Castle while twisting a tourniquet for a cursing dragoon; an uncle remained indefinitely at Malvern Hill; […].

   A lawyer's time and advice are his stock in trade. - aphorism often credited to Abraham Lincoln, but without attestation

3. (by extension) A legal layman who argues points of law.
4. (UK, colloquial) The burbot.
5. (UK, dialect, botany) The stem of a bramble.
6. Any of various plants. This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Synonyms

• advocate
• attorney
• counselor

Derived terms

Terms derived from lawyer

• corporate lawyer
• jailhouse lawyer
• lawyering

• lawyerless
• lawyerly
• Penang lawyer

Translations

professional person authorized to practice law

• Afrikaans: regsgeleerde, prokureur, advokaat
• Albanian: avokat (sq) m
• Amharic: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: مُحَامٍ m (muḥāmin), مُحَامِيَة f (muḥāmiya)

  Egyptian Arabic: محامي m (muḥāmi)

  Moroccan Arabic: محامي m (muḥāmi)

• Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: փաստաբան (hy) (pʻastaban), իրավաբան (hy) (iravaban)
• Assamese: উকিল (ukil)
• Asturian: abogáu m
• Azerbaijani: vəkil (az), hüquqşünas (az), advokat (az)
• Belarusian: юры́ст m (jurýst), юры́стка f (jurýstka), адвака́т m (advakát), адвака́тка f (advakátka)
• Bengali: উকিল (bn) (ukil), আইনজীবি (ainjibi)
• Breton: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: юри́ст (bg) m (juríst), юри́стка f (jurístka), адвока́т (bg) m (advokát), адвока́тка f (advokátka)
• Burmese: ရှေ့နေ (my) (hre.ne)
• Catalan: advocat (ca) m, advocada (ca) f
• Chechen: юрист (jurist), адвокат (adʷokat)
• Cherokee: ᏗᏘᏲᎯᎯ (ditiyohihi)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 律師／律师 (leot⁶ si¹), 律师 (leot⁶ si¹)

  Mandarin: 律師／律师 (zh) (lǜshī), 律师 (zh) (lǜshī)

  Min Nan: 律師／律师 (zh-min-nan), 律师 (lu̍t-su), 辯護士／辩护士, 辩护士 (piān-hō͘-sū)

• Crimean Tatar: advokat
• Czech: právník (cs) m, právnička (cs) f, advokát (cs) m, advokátka (cs) f
• Danish: jurist c, advokat (da) c, sagfører c (archaic)
• Dutch: jurist (nl) m, raadsman (nl) m (male), raadsvrouw (nl) f (female), advocaat (nl) m, advocate (nl) f (female)
• Esperanto: advokato (eo), advokatino (female)
• Estonian: jurist (et), advokaat (et)
• Faroese: sakførari m
• Finnish: asianajaja (fi), juristi (fi), lakimies (fi)
• French: juriste (fr) m or f, homme de loi (fr) m, femme de loi f, avocat (fr) m (informal), avocate (fr) f (informal)
• Galician: avogado (gl) m, avogada f, vogado m, vogada f, leterado m, leterada f, voceiro m, voceira f
• Georgian: ადვოკატი (advoḳaṭi), იურისტი (iurisṭi)
• German: Rechtsanwalt (de) m, Rechtsanwältin (de) f, Anwalt (de) m, Anwältin (de) f
• Gothic: 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐍉𐌳𐌰𐍆𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌹𐍃 m (witōdafasteis)
• Greek: δικηγόρος (el) m or f (dikigóros)

  Ancient: δικήγορος m (dikḗgoros), πρόδικος m (pródikos)

• Gujarati: વકીલ (gu) (vakīl)
• Hebrew: עוֹרֵךְ דִּין (he) m (orékh-dín), עוֹרֶכֶת דִּין f (orékhet-dín), פְּרַקְלִיט (he) m (praklít), פְּרַקְלִיטָה f (praklíta)
• Hindi: वकील (hi) m (vakīl)
• Hungarian: jogász (hu), ügyvéd (hu)
• Icelandic: lögfræðingur m
• Ido: advokato (io)
• Indonesian: pengacara (id)
• Interlingua: advocato
• Irish: dlíodóir m
• Italian: avvocato (it) m, avvocatessa (it) f, legale (it) m or f
• Japanese: 弁護士 (ja) (べんごし, bengoshi), 法曹 (ほうそう, hōsō)
• Jeju: 벤호사 (benhosa)
• Kabuverdianu: adivogádu
• Kannada: ವಕೀಲ (kn) (vakīla)
• Kazakh: адвокат (advokat), қорғаушы (qorğauşy), заңгер (kk) (zañger)
• Khmer: មេធាវី (km) (meithiəvii), អាវ៉ូកាត៍ (km) (ʼaavoukaa)
• Korean: 변호사(辯護士) (ko) (byeonhosa)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: پارێزەر (ckb) (parêzer)

  Northern Kurdish: parêzer (ku)

• Kyrgyz: юрист (ky) (yurist), адвокат (ky) (advokat)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Ladin: aucat m
• Lao: ນັກກົດໝາຍ (lo) (nak kot māi)
• Latin: causidicus m, cognitor m, lēgisperītus m
• Latvian: jurists m, advokāts m
• Lithuanian: advokatas (lt) m
• Macedonian: правник m (pravnik), правничка f (pravnička), адвока́т m (advokát), адвока́тка f (advokátka)
• Malay: peguam, loyar, muhami
• Malayalam: അഭിഭാഷകന് (abhibhāṣakanŭ), വക്കീല് (vakkīlŭ)
• Maltese: avukat (mt) m
• Maori: rōia
• Marathi: वकिल m or f (vakil)
• Mirandese: abogado m, abogada f
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: өмгөөлөгч (mn) (ömgöölögč), хуульч (mn) (xuulʹč)

• Navajo: aghaʼdiitʼaahii
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: advokat (no) m, jurist (no) m, sakfører (no) m (archaic)

  Nynorsk: advokat m, jurist m, sakførar m (archaic)

• Occitan: avocat (oc) m, avocata (oc) f, avocairitz (oc) f
• Ojibwe: giigidoowinini, dibaakonigewinini
• Palauan: chad er a llach
• Pashto: قانوندان m (qānundãn), قانونپوه m (qānúnрoh)
• Persian: وکیل (fa) (vakil)
• Plautdietsch: Aunwault m, Ofkot m
• Polish: adwokat (pl) m, adwokatka (pl) f, prawnik (pl) m, prawniczka (pl) f, radca (pl) m, radczyni (pl) f
• Portuguese: advogado (pt) m, advogada (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਵਕੀਲ (vakīl)
• Quechua: amachaq
• Romanian: avocat (ro) m, avocată (ro) f
• Russian: юри́ст (ru) m (juríst), юри́стка (ru) f (jurístka), адвока́т (ru) m (advokát) (male or female)
• Scottish Gaelic: neach-lagha m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: пра̑внӣк m, пра̑вница f, адво̀ка̄т m, адвока̀тица f, о̀двјетнӣк m, о̀двјетница f (Croatia)

  Roman: prȃvnīk (sh) m, prȃvnica (sh) f, advòkāt (sh) m, advokàtica (sh) f, òdvjetnīk (sh) m, òdvjetnica (sh) f (Croatia)

• Sicilian: abbucatu m, abbucata f
• Sinhalese: නීතිඥයා (nītignayā)
• Skolt Sami: juri´stt
• Slovak: právník m, právnička f, advokát (sk) m, advokátka f
• Slovene: odvetnik m, odvetnica f, advokat m, advokatka f
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: pšawiznik m, rěcnik m

• Spanish: abogado (es) m, abogada (es) f, letrado (es) m (formal), notario (es) m
• Swahili: wakili (sw)
• Swedish: advokat (sv) c, jurist (sv) c
• Tagalog: mananaggol, abogado (tl)
• Tajik: ҳуқуқшинос (huquqšinos), адвокат (advokat), юрист (yurist)
• Tamil: வழக்கறிஞர் (ta) (vaḻakkaṟiñar)
• Telugu: న్యాయవాది (te) (nyāyavādi), వకీలు (te) (vakīlu), ప్లీడరు (plīḍaru)
• Thai: ทนายความ (tá-naai-kwaam), ทนาย (th) (tá-naai)
• Tibetan: ཁྲིམས་རྩོད་པ (khrims rtsod pa)
• Tok Pisin: loman
• Turkish: avukat (tr)
• Turkmen: ýurist, hukukçy, adwokat (tk)
• Ukrainian: юри́ст (uk) m (jurýst), юри́стка (uk) f (jurýstka), адвока́т (uk) m (advokát), адвока́тка f (advokátka)
• Urdu: وکیل m (vakīl)
• Uyghur: ئادۋۇكات (adwukat), ئادۋوكات (adwokat)
• Uzbek: advokat (uz), huquqshunos (uz), yurist (uz)
• Vietnamese: luật sư (vi) (律師)
• Volapük: lavogan (vo)
• Welsh: cyfreithiwr (cy) m
• Westrobothnian:
• Yiddish: אַדוואָקאַט m (advokat), לויער m (loyer) (US)
• Yoruba: agbẹjọ́rò, lọ́yà

layman who argues points of law

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} pleiter (nl) m, (juridisch) raadsman m, ^{(please verify)} informally also advocaat (nl) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: giurista (it) m or f
• Latin: iurisconsultus m
• Sicilian: jurista m or f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: ^{(please verify)} avvocato (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Latin: ^{(please verify)} legisperitus m

Verb

lawyer (third-person singular simple present lawyers, present participle lawyering, simple past and past participle lawyered)

1. (informal, intransitive) To practice law.
2. (intransitive) To perform, or attempt to perform, the work of a lawyer.
3. (intransitive) To make legalistic arguments.
4. (informal, transitive) To barrage (a person) with questions in order to get them to admit something.

   You've been lawyered!

Related terms

• lawyer up

Translations

to practice law

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: adwokatować (pl) impf

See also

• solicitor
• barrister

Anagrams

• Rawley, warely, yawler

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Middle English

Noun

lawyer

1. Alternative form of lawier