Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Lawyer in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels lawyer as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Lawyer

[From Law, like bowyer, fr. bow.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordlawyer
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[From Law, like bowyer, fr. bow.]
Selected historical definitionOne versed in the laws, or a practitioner of law; one whose profession is to conduct lawsuits for clients, or to advise as to prosecution or defence of lawsuits, or as to legal rights and obligations in other matters. It is a general term, comprehending attorneys, counselors, solicitors, barristers, sergeants, and advocates.
Signed record IDwebster1913-lawyer-noun-3256775e74f0
Source locatorCIDE.L, paragraph 1979; Gutenberg eBook 664
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 664Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "lawyer" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[From Law, like bowyer, fr. bow.]" The selected historical definition says: "One versed in the laws, or a practitioner of law; one whose profession is to conduct lawsuits for clients, or to advise as to prosecution or defence of lawsuits, or as to legal rights and obligations in other matters. It is a general term, comprehending attorneys, counselors, solicitors, barristers, sergeants, and advocates."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-10-04

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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adjective

Last

[OE. last, latst, contr. of latest, superl. of late; akin to OS. lezt, lazt, last, D. laatst, G. letzt. See Late, and cf. Latest.]

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Live

[Abbreviated from alive. See Alive, Life.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Local

[L. localis, fr. locus place: cf. F. local. See Lieu, Locus.]

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Large

[F., fr. L. largus. Cf. Largo.]

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Lost

[Prop. p. p. of OE. losien. See Lose, v. t.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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