Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly British A lawyer admitted to plead at the bar in the superior courts.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A counselor or an advocate learned in the law, admitted to plead at the bar in protection and defense of clients: called in full a barrister at law. The term is more especially used in England and Ireland, the corresponding term in Scotland being advocate and in the United States counselor at law. In England barristers alone are admitted to plead in the superior courts. They must previously have belonged to one of the inns of court, and are divided into utter or outer barristers, who plead without the bar, and queen's (or king's) counsel or serjeants at law, who plead within the bar.
Wiktionary
- n. law, chiefly UK, New Zealand A lawyer with the right to speak and argue as an advocate in higher lawcourts.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. engraving Counselor at law; a counsel admitted to plead at the bar, and undertake the public trial of causes, as distinguished from an attorney or solicitor. See attorney.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a British or Canadian lawyer who speaks in the higher courts of law on behalf of either the defense or prosecution
Etymologies
- From bar; the role of the suffix is unclear. This definition is lacking an etymology or has an incomplete etymology. You can help Wiktionary by giving it a proper etymology. (Wiktionary)
- Probably blend of bar1 and obsolete legister, legist; see legist. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“I'm writing from Nigeria -- not with an email that uses the word "barrister" and attempts to scam you out of thousands of your hard-earned dollars -- but rather as a visitor to this country that regularly turns up as a punch line on late night TV.”
The Huffington Post: Tamar Abrams: Abuja, Nigeria: Happy to Leave
“He is what they call a barrister, with nothing to do.”
“Although the word barrister is not used in the USA, all lawyers in America have to be members of the “bar” and to register with the Bar Association in order to practice.”
“In Pickwick Papers we read about a certain barrister who was described as a promising young man of about forty.”
“Lord Mansfield whenever a barrister pronounced a Latin word with a false quantity.”
“So likening you to one of them - as opposed to a "barrister" - could presumably be argued to be incapable of carrying a defamatory meaning.”
“He quoted Lord Denning that in the dictionary for example the word barrister comes directly after bankrupt and just before bastard.”
“I heard of one case here in England (unreported, the barrister was a friend-of-a-friend) where a lorry driver who went through a red light and hit a cyclist was held not to be liable because the lorry driver's barrister persuaded the judge that riding a bicycle through Manchester city centre was so recklessly foolhardy that the cyclist was "volens" as to the risk ...”
“Mandaric, the current Sheffield Wednesday owner, has suffered stress, high blood pressure and sleepless nights in the four years of investigation and trial, waking up at 2.30am with the cases churning in his mind, then, often, calling his barrister, Lord Macdonald QC.”
The Guardian: Milan Mandaric: 'I would be lying if I said it isn't hurting me'
“It is surprisingly engaging and I find that he holds my attention to the very end, but then as I remind myself, as a barrister, that is exactly what he has spent the larger part of his life doing....”
A question of etiquette, Dave Eggers' new offering and the sins of the son...
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘barrister’.
-
POL - people in power
daredevil, tzar, king, boss, master, commander, chief, kingpin, top banana, bigwig, big cheese, big wheel and 452 more...
-
GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
-
Words from Blood Meridian
visage, affray, scullery, miasma, mirth, purlieu, tacit, benighted, wickiup, corral, amble, accoutre and 210 more...
-
UK Realia
Shoo!, Holly, Pixie, Mr Paws, Shandy, Snowy, Tibbles, Tufty, bull terrier, cocker spaniel, Irish setter, Yorkshire terrier and 1132 more...
-
of Montreal
Every time I finally decipher Kevin Barnes's song lyrics, I feel somewhat smarter.
These are strange/big/obscure words and phrases from the lyrics of the band 'of Montreal' (intentiona...southern hemisphe..., paradigm, Phaidon Press, permutation, List Christie, Gemini Tactics, eluardian, persecution complex, Himmlers, parabola, Mono Club, subconscious mass... and 132 more...
-
Steroids
Nouns that end in "ster". The -er suffix (as in blaster) doesn't count.
hamster, filibuster, aster, master, mister, baluster, banister, barrister, monster, plaster, semester, bister and 56 more...
-
nachchba's Words
stentorian, blasé, ennui, concinnity, melee, photokeratitis, skiffle, refulgence, mongrel, fakir, caid, eudaimonia and 215 more...
-
Words I have to learn
exasperate, felony, weld, fraud, worksheet, ransom, rehearse, preliminary, offshore, parole, infamous, sieve and 436 more...
-
hedges's Words
wii, crepuscule, adumbrate, concatenation, sufi, qawwali, furry, riot, mellifluous, conspiracy, etymology, tea cozy and 369 more...
-
My GRE words
abase, abate, aberrant, abet, abeyance, abject, abjure, ablution, abnegation, abortive, abrogate, abscission and 140 more...
-
Who Are You?
No one ever says, "I want to be a somnambulist when I grow up." But don't let that get in the way of organizing your Wordie lists.
chevalier, somnambulist, sommelier, troubadour, vicar, majordomo, caliph, polyglot, polymath, apprentice, nuyorican, privateer and 107 more...
-
I am the law!
Words I learnt at law school
appeal, blackletter, contract, dictum, headnote, judgment, litigation, malfeasance, negligence, plaintiff, quantum, remedy and 216 more...
-
ginnylev's Words
neuroplasticity, repudiate, scintilla, ruminate, tautology, ombudsman, exigent, filibuster, grace, ambidextrous, amends, disclosure and 623 more...
-
Spam Names
Interesting words that came to me in spam emails in the "From" field. Read in pairs by order added, add the initial of your choice, and you'll get a list of "names."
menominee, burbled, abrasives, barrister, unfortunates, strolls, appareled, uncles, removal, elusive, significance, described and 180 more...
-
ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
-
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Words used in Bram Stoker's Dracula.
decadence, emancipation, nostalgia, abounded, modernity, revolution, famine, conservative, privy, vied, nascent, correspondence and 211 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for barrister.

Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.