advocacy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈæd.və.kə.si/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English advocacie, borrowed from Old French avocacie (“profession of an advocate”),^[2][3] from Medieval Latin advocātia (“patronage”),^[2][4] from Latin advocātus (“advocate”) (see advocate),^[3][4] from advocō (“to call, summon to one's aid”).^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

About 1385, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, in Barnhart;^[3] Merriam-Webster gives the Middle English sense as intercession.^[4] The OED's first quotation, for the function of an advocate or pleading in support of something, is from 1413.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed close to its origin: the act of pleading for, supporting or recommending,^[2][6] and today especially active public support for a cause or policy.^[7][8]

Timeline

• c. 1385 – advocacie, intercession.^[3][4]
• 1413 – pleading in support.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Active public support for a cause, idea or policy.
2. The work or function of an advocate; pleading on someone's behalf.

Word family

• nonadvocacy

Related words

• advocate
• vocal
• voice
• avocation

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins