the.com/attorney general
The government's lawyer, except the client is the entire country and it never agrees with itself.
means The chief legal officer of a government, who heads its justice department and represents the state in legal matters.
from From Anglo-French 'attourné' (one appointed to act for another) plus 'general,' meaning broad in scope rather than a military rank — an attorney general was originally just an attorney empowered to act in all matters, not one specific case, unlike a lowly 'attorney special.' The phrase kept its French-style word order (noun before adjective), which is why it sounds a bit formal and foreign in English, and why its plural is properly 'attorneys general,' even though almost nobody says it that way anymore.
- title origin
- Comes from 'attorney in general matters,' not rank
- us version
- Runs the Justice Department, sits in cabinet
- state version
- Often elected, sometimes governor's biggest rival
- oldest office
- England created the role back in 1243