advocātus

Advocate derives from Latin advocātus, the past participle of advocāre, meaning 'to call to, to summon.' The word is a compound of ad (to, toward) and vocāre (to call), from vōx (voice). An advocātus was thus literally 'one called to' — a person summoned to one's side to provide assistance, particularly in legal proceedings. In Roman law, the advocātus was distinct from other legal professionals: the ōrātor was the public speaker who delivered arguments before the court, the jūriscōnsultus was the legal scholar who interpreted the law, and the advocātus was the friend or associate who appeared alongside the litigant to lend support, advice, and social credibility. The role was originally informal and unpaid — Roman law long maintained the fiction that legal representation was a form of friendship rather than commerce — though by the Imperial period, advocates were professional lawyers who charged fees and maintained practices.