devil's advocate

English

WOTD – 12 December 2011

Etymology

Calque of Latin advocātus diabolī (“the devil’s advocate”), a popular title given to the officer dealing with the canonization process in the 16th c.

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Noun

devil's advocate (plural devil's advocates)

(idiomatic) One who debates from a viewpoint which he or she may not actually hold, usually to determine its validity or simply for the sake of argument.
I don't really believe all that – I was just playing devil's advocate.
- 1985, Albert Brooks, Lost in America, spoken by David Howard (Albert Brooks):
  Now, play devil's advocate. Can't you live 20 years on $145,000 if you're living out of a motor home and just eating and painting and writing books? I mean, this is what we talked about when we were 19. Remember, we kept saying, "Let's find ourselves," but we didn't have a dollar! So, we watched television instead.
(historical, Roman Catholicism) A canon lawyer appointed by the Church to argue against the canonization of the proposed candidate.

Translations

debater

Arabic: مُحَامِي الشَّيْطَان‎‎ m (muḥāmī š-šayṭān)
Catalan: advocat del diable m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 惡魔的代言人／恶魔的代言人 (èmó de dàiyánrén)
Czech: ďáblův advokát m
Danish: djævelens advokat c
Dutch: advocaat van de duivel
Finnish: paholaisen asianajaja
French: avocat du diable (fr) m
German: des Teufels Advokat m, Advocatus Diaboli (de)
Greek: συνήγορος του διαβόλου (el) m or f (synígoros tou diavólou), δικηγόρος του διαβόλου m or f (dikigóros tou diavólou)
Hungarian: az ördög ügyvédje
Italian: avvocato del diavolo m
Japanese: 悪魔の代弁者 (あくまのだいべんしゃ, akuma no daibensha)
Korean: 악마의 변호인 (angmaui byeonhoin)
Norwegian: djevelens advokat m
Polish: adwokat diabła (pl) m
Portuguese: advogado do diabo (pt) m
Romanian: avocatul diavolului
Russian: адвока́т дья́вола (ru) m (advokát dʹjávola)
Spanish: abogado del diablo m
Swedish: djävulens advokat c
Ukrainian: адвока́т дия́вола m (advokát dyjávola)

canon lawyer

Catalan: advocat del diable m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 列聖審查官／列圣审查官 (lièshèng shěncháguān)
Czech: ďáblův advokát m
Danish: djævelens advokat c
Finnish: paholaisen asianajaja
German: des Teufels Advokat m, Advocatus Diaboli (de)
Greek: συνήγορος του διαβόλου (el) m or f (synígoros tou diavólou)
Hebrew: פרקליט השטן‎ m (praklít hasatán)
Italian: avvocato del diavolo m
Japanese: 列聖調査審問検事 (れっせいちょうさしんもんけんじ, ressei chōsa shinmon kenji)
Latin: advocatus diaboli
Norwegian: djevelens advokat m
Polish: adwokat diabła (pl) m
Portuguese: advogado do diabo (pt) m
Romanian: avocatul diavolului m
Russian: адвока́т дья́вола (ru) m (advokát dʹjávola)
Spanish: abogado del diablo m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked