Barrister

How to spell barrister

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce barrister

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does barrister mean?

1. nounA lawyer who is qualified to argue cases in the higher courts, especially in British and Commonwealth legal systems.

Barrister in a sentence

• The defendant hired a senior barrister to present the case in court.

• After years of study she was called to the bar and now works as a barrister.

Where does barrister come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word comes from the English noun 'bar', meaning the wooden barrier or railing that historically divided a courtroom and marked the place where a lawyer stood to plead a case. From the late medieval period, a law student who had completed enough training was formally 'called to the bar', meaning admitted to argue on the other side of that barrier. By the 1500s the agent form 'barrister' had appeared, modelled on familiar words such as 'minister' and 'chorister', to name a person qualified to plead at the bar. The slightly odd '-ister' spelling, rather than the more obvious '-ester', is the lasting fingerprint of that analogy, and it is the part that most often trips writers up. In British and Commonwealth practice the barrister, who argues in court, remains a distinct profession from the solicitor, who advises clients and prepares cases.

How the word is built

• barr- (the bar, the railing in a courtroom)
• -ister (agent ending, on the pattern of minister and chorister)