Attorney

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: at=tor=ney

CIDE DICTIONARY

Attorney, n. [OE. aturneye, OF. atorné, p. p. of atorner: cf. LL. atturnatus, attornatus, fr. attornare. See Attorn.].

•  A substitute; a proxy; an agent.  [1913 Webster]

  "And will have no attorney but myself."  [1913 Webster]
•  One who is legally appointed by another to transact any business for him; an attorney in fact.  [1913 Webster]

  " An attorney is either public or private. A private attorney, or an attorney in fact, is a person appointed by another, by a letter or power of attorney, to transact any business for him out of court; but in a more extended sense, this class includes any agent employed in any business, or to do any act in pais, for another. A public attorney, or attorney at law, is a practitioner in a court of law, legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court, on the retainer of clients. Bouvier. -- The attorney at law answers to the procurator of the civilians, to the solicitor in chancery, and to the proctor in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, and all of these are comprehended under the more general term lawyer. In Great Britain and in some states of the United States, attorneys are distinguished from counselors in that the business of the former is to carry on the practical and formal parts of the suit. In many states of the United States however, no such distinction exists. In England, since 1873, attorneys at law are by statute called solicitors."  [1913 Webster]

A power, letter, or warrant, of attorney, a written authority from one person empowering another to transact business for him.

Attorney, v. t. 

 To perform by proxy; to employ as a proxy.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Attorney, n. (pl. -eys)
1 a person, esp. a lawyer, appointed to act for another in business or legal matters.
2 US a qualified lawyer, esp. one representing a client in a lawcourt.

Idiom

Attorney General the chief legal officer in England, the US, and other countries. District Attorney see DISTRICT. power of attorney the authority to act for another person in legal or financial matters.

Derivative

attorneyship n.

Etymology

ME f. OF atorn{eacute} past part. of atorner assign f. {agrave} to + torner turn

THESAURUS

Attorney

MC, advocate, agent, alter ego, alternate, amicus curiae, assignee, attorney-at-law, backup, backup man, bailiff, barrister, barrister-at-law, butler, champion, counsel, counselor, counselor-at-law, croupier, curator, custodian, deputy, dummy, emcee, executive officer, exponent, factor, figurehead, friend at court, guardian, housekeeper, intercessor, landreeve, lawyer, legal adviser, legal counselor, legal expert, legal practitioner, legalist, librarian, lieutenant, locum, locum tenens, majordomo, master of ceremonies, mouthpiece, paranymph, pinch hitter, pleader, proctor, procurator, proxy, representative, sea lawyer, second in command, secondary, self-styled lawyer, seneschal, solicitor, stand-in, steward, substitute, supply, surrogate, understudy, utility man, vicar, vicar general, vice, vicegerent

ROGET THESAURUS

Attorney

Consignee

N consignee, trustee, nominee, committee, agent, delegate, commissary, commissioner, emissary, envoy, commissionaire, messenger, diplomatist, diplomat, diplomate, corps diplomatique, embassy, ambassador, embassador, representative, resident, consul, legate, nuncio, internuncio, charge d'affaires, attache, vicegerent, plenipotentiary, functionary, placeman, curator, treasurer, factor, bailiff, clerk, secretary, attorney, advocate, solicitor, proctor, broker, underwriter, commission agent, auctioneer, one's man of business, factotum, caretaker, dalal, dubash, garnishee, gomashta, negotiator, go-between, middleman, under agent, employe, servant, referee, arbitrator, traveler, bagman, commis-voyageur, touter, commercial traveler, drummer, traveling man, newspaper correspondent, own correspondent, special correspondent.

Legality

N legality, legitimacy, legitimateness, legislature, law, code, corpus juris, constitution, pandect, charter, enactment, statute, rule, canon, ordinance, institution, regulation, bylaw, byelaw, decree, ordonnance, standing order, plebiscite, legal process, form, formula, formality, rite, arm of the law, habeas corpus, fieri facias, jurisprudence, nomology, legislation, codification, equity, common law, lex, lex nonscripta, law of nations, droit des gens, international law, jus gentium, jus civile, civil law, canon law, crown law, criminal law, statute law, ecclesiastical law, administrative law, lex mercatoria, constitutionalism, constitutionality, justice, court, tribunal, judge, lawyer, attorney, legal counsel, legal, legitimate, according to law, vested, constitutional, chartered, legalized, lawful, statutable, statutory, legislatorial, legislative, regulatory, regulated, legally, in the eye of the law, de jure, ignorantia legis neminem excusat, ignorance of the law is no excuse, where law ends tyranny begins.

Lawyer

N lawyer, attorney, legal counsel, counsel, counsellor, counsellor at law, attorney at law, jurist, legist, civilian, pundit, publicist, juris consult, legal adviser, advocate, barrister, barrister at law, King's or Queen's counsel, K, C, Q, C, silk gown, leader, sergeant-at-law, bencher, tubman, judge, bar, legal profession, bar association, association of trial lawyers, officer of the court, gentleman of the long robe, junior bar, outer bar, inner bar, equity draftsman, conveyancer, pleader, special pleader, solicitor, proctor, notary, notary public, scrivener, cursitor, writer, writer to the signet, S, S, C, limb of the law, pettifogger, vakil, legal beagle, legal secretary, legal assistant, law student, learned in the law, at the bar, forensic, esquire, esquired, banco regis.