Etymologically
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attorney

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 20:29. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /əˈtɜː.ni/, US /əˈtɝː.ni/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English aturne, later atournei,[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman aturné, from Old French atorné “(one) appointed”,[3][2] the past participle of atorner (“to decree, assign, appoint”),[3][2][4] literally “to turn to”, from a- “to” and torner “to turn”.[3][2][4] The double t is a mistaken 15th-century attempt to restore a Latin original that did not exist,[3][2] perhaps under the influence of legal Latin attornare.[3] It is related to attorn and turn.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

One appointed to act for another: early 14th century in Etymonline (mid-13th century in Anglo-Latin)[3] and 1303 in the OED and Barnhart, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

In English law a private attorney (attorney in fact, 1292) acted for another in business or legal affairs,[3][5] while an attorney at law prepared cases in the common-law courts for a barrister, who pleaded them.[3][5] The word became so much a term of contempt in England that the title was abolished by the Judicature Act of 1873 and merged with solicitor.[3] Trench noted that it was once used of anyone who acted in another's stead.[6] Johnson is reported as saying he did not care to speak ill of any man behind his back, “but he believed the gentleman was an attorney”.[3] In the United States, where barrister is not used, it became the general term.[3] Attorney general is from 1533.[2]

Timeline

  • 1292 – attorney in fact.[5][2]
  • 1303 – an agent, a deputy.[5][2]
  • c. 1330 – an attorney at law.[5]
  • 1533 – attorney general.[2]
  • 1873 – the title abolished in England.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person legally appointed to act for another in business or legal matters.
  2. A lawyer qualified to act for plaintiffs and defendants in legal proceedings.

Word family

  • attorneyship
  • subattorney
  • attorney-in-fact
  • attorney-at-law
  • state attorney
  • state's attorney
  • attorney general
  • district attorney

Usage notes

In the phrase power of attorney, the word is a separate noun meaning legal agency, from the Old French feminine atornée.[7][5]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press