barrister

[bar-uh-ster]

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noun Law.

(in England) a lawyer who is a member of one of the Inns of Court and who has the privilege of pleading in the higher courts.Compare solicitor(def 4).

Informal. any lawyer.

Lexical Investigations: Stuff As a noun and a verb, the word stuff has had many lives, dating all the way back to the 1300s. The sense of wool and cloth is chiefly British. In the nineteenth century, a junior barrister was called a “stuff gownsman,” because his robes were made of wool, unlike a barrister appointed to the Queen’s Council, who was called a “silk gownsman,” and whose promotion …

Nearby words

Origin of barrister

1535–45; derivative of bar¹, perhaps after obsolete legister lawyer or minister

Related formsbar·ris·te·ri·al

[bar-uh-steer-ee-uh l] /ˌbær əˈstɪər i əl/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for barrister

Alamuddin was invited to become a barrister, an elite group of British lawyers, in 2010.
Meet Amal Alamuddin George Clooney’s Beautiful and Formidable Fiancée|Lizzie Crocker|April 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The dean told him face to face that Africans lacked the innate skills necessary to become a barrister.
Mandela: The Miracle Maker|Sam Seibert|December 5, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It tells the story a British barrister, a criminal lawyer, in mid-life crisis.
Scott Turow: How I Write|Noah Charney|October 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The founder, Motilal Nehru, an Anglophile barrister, was a liberal member of the Indian nationalist movement.
The Unstoppable Gandhi|Aravind Adiga|April 23, 2009|DAILY BEAST

But you are a pretty Lord Chancellor to tell the barrister on one side how best to win the cause!
The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume II (of II)|Charles Darwin
He called himself a barrister, but he never practised; a journalist at times, but he seldom put his name to anything he wrote.
The Avenger|E. Phillips Oppenheim
Perhaps,” exclaimed the barrister, “your few words will come more easily if you wet your whistle.
The Stowmarket Mystery|Louis Tracy
Cotherstone walked steadily away through the Market Place when he left the barrister.
The Borough Treasurer|Joseph Smith Fletcher
The Butcher only killed Beavers, the Barrister was hunting among his fellow sailors for a good legal case.
Lewis Carroll in Wonderland and at Home|Belle Moses

British Dictionary definitions for barrister

barrister

noun

Also called: barrister-at-law (in England) a lawyer who has been called to the bar and is qualified to plead in the higher courtsCompare solicitor See also advocate, counsel

(in Canada) a lawyer who pleads in court

US a less common word for lawyer

Word Origin for barrister

C16: from bar 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for barrister

barrister

1540s, "a student of law who has been called to the bar," from bar (n.3) in the legal sense + -ster. Also see attorney. The second element is obscure.