Word
advocate
Phoneticsad·vo·cate
/ˈædvəˌkeɪt/
Definitions
02a supporter
n. someone who publicly supports a particular idea or way of doing things.
n. a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy.
“She has been a strong advocate for women's rights throughout her career.”
“As a leading advocate of renewable energy, the professor was invited to speak at the international climate summit.”
Academic
03legal representative
n. a lawyer who speaks for someone in a court of law.
n. a person who puts forward a case in a court of law; a legal representative or counsel.
“The defendant's advocate argued that there was not enough evidence for a conviction.”
“The judge requested that the advocate provide further clarification regarding the precedent cited in the opening statement.”
Formal · Technical
Teaching tip
In many English-speaking legal systems, 'lawyer' or 'attorney' is more common, but 'advocate' is the specific title in Scotland and South Africa.
Real-World Examples
“For women who experience such losses, the medical crisis can be compounded by social expectations.“Motherhood is one-sided,” women’s rights advocate Tabou Sarr says.” “That's the bit that people like Annabelle benefit from and that advocates say the NDIS was designed for: to enable disabled people to be an integral part of the economy and Australian society.” “Transgender rights advocates said the new rule would face a legal challenge.” “I’ve worked with campaigners and advocates with lived experience of gambling harm, and highlighted organisations such as Gambling with Lives and Gambling Harm UK , whose expertise helped make the case for reform.” Etymology
From Middle English advocat, advoket, from Old French advocat, from Latin advocātus (“an advocate”), from the substantivization of the perfect passive participle of advocāre (“to call for”) (see -ate (noun-forming suffix)), from a calque of Ancient Greek παράκλητος (paráklētos) (whence English paraclete). Doublet of advoke, avocat, avouch, and avow. The verb derives from the noun on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Idioms
angel's advocate — Someone who sees what is good about an idea and supports it.
devil's advocate — One who debates from a viewpoint which one may not actually hold, usually to determine its validity or simply for the sake of argument.
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/advocate