Etymologically
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advocacy

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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