- advocate
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—advocative, adj. —advocator, n.v. /ad"veuh kayt'/; n. /ad"veuh kit, -kayt'/, v., advocated, advocating, n.v.t.1. to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly: He advocated higher salaries for teachers.n.2. a person who speaks or writes in support or defense of a person, cause, etc. (usually fol. by of): an advocate of peace.3. a person who pleads for or in behalf of another; intercessor.4. a person who pleads the cause of another in a court of law.[1300-50; < L advocatus legal counselor (orig. ptp. of advocare to call to one's aid), equiv. to ad- AD- + voc- call (akin to vox VOICE) + -atus -ATE1; r. ME avocat < MF]Syn. 2. champion, proponent, backer. 4. lawyer, attorney, counselor, counsel; barrister; solicitor.
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▪ lawin law, a person who is professionally qualified to plead the cause of another in a court of law. As a technical term, advocate is used mainly in those legal systems that derived from the Roman law. In Scotland the word refers particularly to a member of the bar of Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates. In France avocats were formerly an organized body of pleaders, while the preparation of cases was done by avoués; today this distinction exists only before the appellate courts. In Germany, until the distinction between counselor and pleader was abolished in 1879, the Advokat was the adviser rather than the pleader. The term has traditionally been applied to pleaders in courts of canon law, and thus in England those who practiced before the courts of civil and canon law were called advocates. In the United States the term advocate has no special significance, being used interchangeably with such terms as attorney, counsel, or lawyer. See also barrister; lawyer; solicitor.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
