solicitor
noun
Simple meaning
In English Canada and in parts of Australia, a type of lawyer who historically held the same role as above.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
suhlisuhterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
səˈlɪsətɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
In many common law jurisdictions, a type of lawyer whose traditional role is to offer legal services to clients apart from acting as their advocate in court. A solicitor instructs barristers to act as an advocate for their client in court, although rights of audience for solicitors vary according to jurisdiction.
In English Canada and in parts of Australia, a type of lawyer who historically held the same role as above, but whose role has in modern times been merged with that of a barrister.
In parts of the U.S., the chief legal officer of a city, town or other jurisdiction.
A petitioner who solicits contributions or trade or votes
canadaus
A person soliciting sales, especially door to door.
One who solicits.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: In many common law jurisdictions, a type of lawyer whose traditional role is to offer legal services to clients apart from acting as their advocate in court. A solicitor instructs barristers to act as an advocate for their client in court, although rights of audience for solicitors vary according to jurisdiction.
Used this way, solicitor is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
- Business/professional
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.