\At*tor"ney\, n.; pl. {Attorneys}. [OE. aturneye, OF.
atorn['e], p. p. of atorner: cf. LL. atturnatus, attornatus,
fr. attornare. See {Attorn}.]
1. A substitute; a proxy; an agent. [Obs.]
         And will have no attorney but myself. --Shak.
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.
Note: 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.
{A power}, {letter}, or {warrant}, {of attorney}, a written
   authority from one person empowering another to transact
   business for him.

\At*tor"ney\, v. t.
To perform by proxy; to employ as a proxy. [Obs.] --Shak.