v. i. [ OF. atorner, aturner, atourner, to direct, prepare, dispose, attorn (cf. OE. atornen to return, adorn); à (L. ad) + torner to turn; cf. LL. attornare to commit business to another, to attorn; ad + tornare to turn, L. tornare to turn in a lathe, to round off. See Turn, v. t. ] 1. (Feudal Law) To turn, or transfer homage and service, from one lord to another. This is the act of feudatories, vassals, or tenants, upon the alienation of the estate. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Modern Law) To agree to become tenant to one to whom reversion has been granted. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Attorneys [ OE. aturneye, OF. atorné, p. p. of atorner: cf. LL. atturnatus, attornatus, fr. attornare. See Attorn. ] 1. A substitute; a proxy; an agent. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

And will have no attorney but myself. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) (a) One who is legally appointed by another to transact any business for him; an attorney in fact. (b) A legal agent qualified to act for suitors and defendants in legal proceedings; an attorney at law. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ An attorney is either public or private. A private attorney, or an attorney in fact, is a person appointed by another, by a letter or power of attorney, to transact any business for him out of court; but in a more extended sense, this class includes any agent employed in any business, or to do any act in pais, for another. A public attorney, or attorney at law, is a practitioner in a court of law, legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court, on the retainer of clients. Bouvier. -- The attorney at law answers to the procurator of the civilians, to the solicitor in chancery, and to the proctor in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts, and all of these are comprehended under the more general term lawyer. In Great Britain and in some states of the United States, attorneys are distinguished from counselors in that the business of the former is to carry on the practical and formal parts of the suit. In many states of the United States however, no such distinction exists. In England, since 1873, attorneys at law are by statute called solicitors. [ 1913 Webster ]

A power,
letter, or
warrant,
of attorney, a written authority from one person empowering another to transact business for him. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To perform by proxy; to employ as a proxy. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; (pl. Attorney-generals or Attorneys-general). (Law) The chief law officer of the state, empowered to act in all litigation in which the law-executing power is a party, and to advise this supreme executive whenever required. Wharton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The practice or peculiar cleverness of attorneys. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The office or profession of an attorney; agency for another. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. attornement, LL. attornamentum. See Attorn. ] (Law) The act of a feudatory, vassal, or tenant, by which he consents, upon the alienation of an estate, to receive a new lord or superior, and transfers to him his homage and service; the agreement of a tenant to acknowledge the purchaser of the estate as his landlord. Burrill. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]