attorney general

See also: Attorney-General and attorney-general

English

Alternative forms

Attorney-General, attorney-general

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman and Law French, (modern French avocat général or procureur général), hence the unusual order of adjective following noun, instead of idiomatic English *general attorney. Compare court martial, notary public, secretary general, surgeon general.

Pronunciation

Audio (Southern England): (file)

Noun

attorney general (plural attorneys general or attorney generals)

The chief legal advisor to the government, overseeing legal affairs and ensuring that laws are uniformly and justly applied.
Synonyms: AG, Atty. Gen.
- 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 29, column 2:
  If you do wrongfully ſeize Herford's right,
  call in his Letters Patents that he hath
  By his Atturneyes generall, to ſue […]

Derived terms

private attorney general

Related terms

Translations

major government officer

Arabic: نَائِب عَامّ m (nāʔib ʕāmm)
Bulgarian: гла́вен прокуро́р m (gláven prokurór)
Burmese: ရှေ့နေချုပ် (my) (hre.nehkyup)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 司法部長 / 司法部长 (sīfǎ bùzhǎng)
Czech: generální prokurátor m
Danish: justitsminister c
Dutch: procureur-generaal (nl) m or f
Estonian: õiguskantsler
Finnish: oikeuskansleri (fi) (chief legal advisor to govt), valtakunnansyyttäjä (fi) (chief prosecutor)
French: procureur général (fr) m
Georgian: იუსტიციის მინისტრი (iusṭiciis minisṭri), გენერალური პროკურორი (generaluri ṗroḳurori), გენერალური ატორნეი (generaluri aṭornei)
German: Generalstaatsanwalt (de) m
Hausa: atone-janar m
Hebrew: תובע כללי m, תובעת כללית f
Hungarian: főállamügyész (hu), igazságügy-miniszter (hu)
Indonesian: jaksa agung (id)
Irish: Ard-Aighne m
Italian: procuratore generale m
Japanese: 検事総長 (kenji sōchō)
Malay: peguam negara
Māori: rōia matua
Norwegian:
Bokmål: justisminister (no) m

Nynorsk: justisminister m
Polish: prokurator generalny m pers
Portuguese: procurador geral m, procuradora geral f
Romanian: procuror general m
Russian: мини́стр юсти́ции m (minístr justícii), генера́льный прокуро́р (ru) m (generálʹnyj prokurór), генпрокуро́р (ru) m (genprokurór)
Slovak: generálny prokurátor m
Spanish: fiscal general m or f, procurador general m, procuradora general f
Swedish: kronjurist c (England and Wales), justitieminister (sv) c (USA)
Ukrainian: генера́льний прокуро́р m (henerálʹnyj prokurór)
Welsh: twrnai cyffredinol m