avvocato

Forms

avvocato m (plural avvocati, feminine avvocatessa or avvocata)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin advocātus (“one called in to help; legal counsel”), the past participle of advocō (“to call to one's aid; to call into court”), from ad- and vocō (“to call”).^[2][3][4][1] The LEI finds it hard to say whether the Italian word is a popular or a learned development.^[5][2] Since the name of the profession is learned in Gallo-Romance and the northern Italian forms point the same way, it treats the modern word as a Latinism, while the Old Florentine form avoghado and the Bregaglia valley form Lombard vogado (“guardian”) show the popular sound changes.^[5][2] The GDLI and Wiktionary call it a learned word.^[6][1]

The word is found in all the Romance languages except Romanian: French avoué (with the learned French avocat), Old Occitan avogat, Spanish abogado and Portuguese advogado.^[3][7][8] In Romansh and the conservative Alpine dialects it means “guardian”, and even the head of a village community.^[8][7] The Latin verb vocō is derived from the stem of Latin vōx (“voice”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs.^[9]

Nocentini notes that under the Roman Republic an advocate was a legal expert whom a party called on for advice during a trial, and that only under the Empire did he become the one who pleaded the case, as today.^[3] The feminine Ecclesiastical Latin advocāta belongs to the language of the Church: the “Salve Regina” calls the Virgin “advocata nostra”, and, from there avvocata entered use.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Latin form avocato, in the dative, appears in a Medieval Latin document of 885.^[2] The first Italian record in the TLIO is Brunetto Latini's Rettorica (Florence, about 1260–1261): “neuno possa buono advocato essere né perfetto se non favella secondo l'arte di rettorica” (no one can be a good or perfect advocate unless he speaks according to the art of rhetoric).^[10][6] DELI's first date is Bono Giamboni (before 1292), for one who assists a party in a lawsuit.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian forms include Florentine avoghado (1279–1280) and avogado and Venetian avocato (1287).^[5][10] Besides the lawyer, the word named an office (the avvocato della chiesa, a prince or lord bound to defend a church's rights), a defender in general, and in religious language one who intercedes for sinners before God.^[10][11] Dante calls Orosius “quello avvocato de' tempi cristiani” (that advocate of Christian times).^[6] Venice had a magistrate called avogadore, from Latin advocator.^[11][2]

Avvocatessa “woman lawyer” is recorded before 1767, avvocatura “the legal profession” in 1771, replacing the older avvocazione, and avvocatesco “lawyerly” in 1854.^[2] Avvocato del diavolo, the official who raised objections in canonization trials and then anyone who argues the other side on purpose, is recorded before 1852.^[3][12][13] Colloquial phrases such as parlare come un avvocato “to have the gift of the gab” show the lawyer's reputation for fluency and cunning.^[4][12]

Timeline

• 885 – Medieval Latin avocato appears in a document.^[2]
• c. 1260–1261 – Brunetto Latini uses advocato in the Rettorica.^[10]
• 1279–1280 – Old Florentine avoghado is recorded.^[5]
• Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses avvocato for a lawyer.^[2]
• Before 1306 – Iacopone da Todi calls the Virgin avvocata.^[2]
• Before 1767 – Avvocatessa is recorded.^[2]
• 1771 – Avvocatura is recorded.^[2]
• Before 1852 – Avvocato del diavolo is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A lawyer, a graduate in law registered with the bar who assists and defends a party in court: Prima di rispondere ha chiamato il suo avvocato.^{[4][14][15][1]}
2. (figurative) A defender, advocate or intercessor, someone who takes up the cause of another person or an idea: Si è fatta avvocato dei diritti degli animali.^{[4][14][13][1]}
3. avvocato del diavolo: (Catholic Church) the promoter of the faith, who raises every objection in a canonization trial, (figurative) someone who argues the opposite view on purpose.^[14][12][13]
4. avvocato d'ufficio: a court-appointed defence lawyer.^[4][12]

Word family

• avvocatura
• avvocata
• avvocatessa
• avvocatesco
• avvocatino

Related words

• voce
• vocare
• Latin advocātus
• French avocat

Usage notes

The feminine is avvocata or avvocatessa, but the masculine is often used of women too;^[14][15][1] Sabatini–Coletti calls avvocatessa rare and ironic or disparaging.^[14][15][1] The abbreviation is avv.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 951
6. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 908
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975)
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 91
12. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse