Category:Advocate

Ad"vo*cate, n. Etym: [OE. avocat, avocet, OF. avocat, fr. L. advocatus, one summoned or called to another; properly the p. p. of advocare to call to, call to one's aid; ad + vocare to call. See Advowee, Avowee, Vocal.]

1. One who pleads the cause of another. Specifically: One who pleads the cause of another before a tribunal or judicial court; a counselor.

Note: In the English and American Law, advocate is the same as "counsel," "counselor," or "barrister." In the civil and ecclesiastical courts, the term signifies the same as "counsel" at the common law.

2. One who defends, vindicates, or espouses any cause by argument; a pleader; as, an advocate of free trade, an advocate of truth.

3. Christ, considered as an intercessor. We have an Advocate with the Father. 1 John ii. 1. Faculty of advocates (Scot.), the Scottish bar in Edinburgh.

-- Lord advocate (Scot.), the public prosecutor of crimes, and principal crown lawyer.

-- Judge advocate. See under Judge.

Ad"vo*cate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Advocated; p. pr. & vb. n. Advocating.] Etym: [See Advocate, n., Advoke, Avow.]

Defn: To plead in favor of; to defend by argument, before a tribunal or the public; to support, vindicate, or recommend publicly. To advocate the cause of thy client. Bp. Sanderson (1624). This is the only thing distinct and sensible, that has been advocated. Burke. Eminent orators were engaged to advocate his cause. Mitford.

Ad"vo*cate, v. i.

Defn: To act as advocate. [Obs.] Fuller.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Advocate - (Gr. parakletos ), one who pleads another's cause, who helps another by defending or comforting him. It is a name given by Christ three times to the Holy Ghost (John 14:16; John 15:26; John 16:7, where the Greek word is rendered "Comforter," q.v.). It is applied to Christ in 1 John 2:1, where the same Greek word is rendered "Advocate," the rendering which it should have in all the places where it occurs. Tertullus "the orator" (Acts 24:1) was a Roman advocate whom the Jews employed to accuse Paul before Felix.