attorney的词源

英文词源

attorney

attorney: [14] Attorney was formed in Old French from the prefix a- ‘to’ and the verb torner ‘turn’. This produced the verb atorner, literally ‘turn to’, hence ‘assign to’ or ‘appoint to’. Its past participle, atorne, was used as a noun with much the same signification as appointee – ‘someone appointed’ – and hence ‘someone appointed to act as someone else’s agent’, and ultimately ‘legal agent’.

Borrowed into English, over the centuries the term came to mean ‘lawyer practising in the courts of Common Law’ (as contrasted with a solicitor, who practised in the Equity Courts); but it was officially abolished in that sense by the Judicature Act of 1873, and now survives only in American English, meaning ‘lawyer’, and in the title Attorney- General, the chief law officer of a government.
=> turn

attorney (n.)

early 14c. (mid-13c. in Anglo-Latin), from Old French atorné "(one) appointed," past participle of aturner "to decree, assign, appoint," from atorner (see attorn). The legal Latin form attornare influenced the spelling in Anglo-French. The sense is of "one appointed to represent another's interests."

In English law, a private attorney was one appointed to act for another in business or legal affairs (usually for pay); an attorney at law or public attorney was a qualified legal agent in the courts of Common Law who prepared the cases for a barrister, who pleaded them (the equivalent of a solicitor in Chancery). So much a term of contempt in England that it was abolished by the Judicature Act of 1873 and merged with solicitor.

Johnson observed that "he did not care to speak ill of any man behind his back, but he believed the gentleman was an attorney." [Boswell]

The double -t- is a mistaken 15c. attempt to restore a non-existent Latin original. Attorney general first recorded 1530s in sense of "legal officer of the state" (late 13c. in Anglo-French), from French, hence the odd plural (subject first, adjective second).

中文词源

attorney：代理人、律师、检察官

发音释义：[ə'tɜːnɪ] n.代理人；律师；检察官

结构分析：attorney = at（=ad，去）+torney（委托）→被委托人→代理人→律师或检察官

词源解释：torney←古法语torner（指定、委托）

背景知识：在英国法律中，private attorney（私人代理）是受人委托、替人办理经济或法律事务的人；而public attorney（公共代理）则是有执照的律师，负责为barrister（出庭律师、大律师）准备案件材料，而只有barrister才有资格出庭辩护。现在，public attorney这一角色已经与solicitor（事务律师）合并，在英国attorney只用来表示“代理人”，但在美国依然可以表示“律师”，尤其是有资格出庭辩护的律师。更重要的是，在美国attorney还可以表示“检察官”，因为检察官实际上就是受政府委托的律师。

趣味记忆：attorney→谐音“我托你”→我委托你办事→代理人→律师或检察官

常用搭配：attorney in fact（代理人）；attorney general（美国司法部长、总检察官）；letter of attorney（代理授权书）

该词的英语词源请访问趣词词源英文版：attorney 词源，attorney 含义。

attorney：律师

前缀at-同ad-. -torn同turn, 转。转向顾客的，代表当事人利益的人。

attorney：律师  

attorney通常在法律意义上讲，是Attorney at law或者attorney-at-law的简称，在日本、南非和美国等国家的法律体系中与lawyer基本同义。这个单词来自attorn（转让、让与），字面意思就是“(one) appointed”。而-torn实际与turn是颇有渊源的，attorn换个说法就是to turn to，在法律上强调被委任(appointment)，被授权可以代表委托人行事的叫attorney。