barrister

[bar-uh-ster]

See more synonyms for barrister on Thesaurus.com

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.

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. 2018

Related Words for barrister

advocate, counsel, counselor, lawyer, solicitor

Examples from the Web for barrister

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
It tells the story a British barrister, a criminal lawyer, in mid-life crisis.
Scott Turow: How I Write
Noah Charney
October 23, 2013
The founder, Motilal Nehru, an Anglophile barrister, was a liberal member of the Indian nationalist movement.
The Unstoppable Gandhi
Aravind Adiga
April 23, 2009

Historical Examples of barrister

He's a schoolmaster and a barrister and a poet and heaven knows what not.
Changing Winds
St. John G. Ervine
The last sentence in the barrister's letter begins with "I despair."
Lotus Buds
Amy Carmichael
Daily habit familiarises us with the acting of the barrister.
Cornelius O'Dowd Upon Men And Women And Other Things In General
Charles Lever
And whilst I toyed with her charming daughter, she sent for a barrister.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt
He also calls himself a barrister, though he is such only in his own imagination.
The Memoires of Casanova, Complete
Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

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

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.