Other forms: prosecutors
A prosecutor is the lawyer who argues that the accused is guilty. The public prosecutor, the prosecutor said, prosecutors decided.
The duty is to see justice done rather than to win, which is a formal obligation in most systems and includes disclosing evidence that helps the defence. Whether to charge at all is the prosecutor's decision, and it is where most of the power lies. Note prosecute, from the Latin for pursuing.
1nounprosecutorThe lawyer who argues that the accused is guilty.
“The prosecutor asked the judge to send the man to prison for ten years.”
prosecutor is a lawyer.
Medieval Latin prosecutor comes from prosequi, to pursue — pro plus sequi, to follow. Sequence and pursue come from the same following.
Proto-Indo-European
*per-
Latin
prōsecūtus
English
prosecute
English, today
prosecutor
First use appears c. 1542, from Medieval Latin - prosecutor, from prōsequor (English prosecute). by surface analysis, prosecute + -or. prosecute Borrowed from Latin prōsecūtus, perfect participle of prōsequor. a doublet of pursue, from Old French. Compare also persecute.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA