attorney general

See also: Attorney-General and attorney-general

English

Alternative forms

• Attorney-General
• attorney-general

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman/Law French, (modern French avocat général or procureur général), hence the unusual order of adjective following noun, instead of idiomatic English *general attorney. Compare court martial, notary public, secretary general, surgeon general.

Noun

attorney general (plural attorneys general or attorney generals)

1. A major government officer throughout the English-speaking world, generally responsible for interpreting the law for the head of government and executive department and functioning as chief prosecutor, with the ability to bring civil and criminal actions directly.

   Janet Reno was US Attorney General under Bill Clinton.

   • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 29, column 2:

     If you do wrongfully ſeize Herford's right, / call in his Letters Patents that he hath / By his Atturneyes generall, to ſue […]

Synonyms

• AG
• Atty. Gen.

Derived terms

• private attorney general

Related terms

• general counsel
• secretary general
• solicitor general
• surgeon general

Translations

major government officer

• Arabic: نَائِب عَامّ m (nāʔib ʕāmm)
• Burmese: ရှေ့နေချုပ် (my) (hre.nehkyup)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 司法部長／司法部长 (sīfǎ bùzhǎng)

• Czech: generální prokurátor m
• Dutch: procureur-generaal (nl) m or f
• Finnish: oikeuskansleri (fi) (chief legal advisor to govt), valtakunnansyyttäjä (fi) (chief prosecutor)
• French: procureur général (fr) m
• Georgian: იუსტიციის მინისტრი (iusṭiciis minisṭri), გენერალური პროკურორი (generaluri ṗroḳurori), გენერალური ატორნეი (generaluri aṭornei)
• German: Generalstaatsanwalt (de) m
• Hausa: atone-janar m
• Hebrew: תובע כללי m, תובעת כללית f
• Hungarian: főállamügyész (hu), igazságügy-miniszter (hu)
• Indonesian: jaksa agung (id)
• Irish: Ard-Aighne m
• Japanese: 検事総長
• Malay: peguam negara
• Maori: rōia matua
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: justisminister (no) m

  Nynorsk: justisminister m

• Polish: prokurator generalny m (chief prosecutor)
• Portuguese: Procurador(a) Geral
• Russian: мини́стр юсти́ции m (minístr justícii), генера́льный прокуро́р (ru) m (generálʹnyj prokurór)
• Spanish: fiscal general m or f
• Swedish: kronjurist c (England and Wales), justitieminister (sv) c (USA)
• Welsh: twrnai cyffredinol m