a legal officer of the state empowered to act in all cases in which the state is a party. In England, Isle of Man, many Commonwealth countries, and in the United States, (formerly also in Ireland), the title of the first ministerial law-officer of the government, also of his or her Majesty’s attorney in the duchy of Lancaster and, historically, in the duchy of Cornwall and the county palatine of Durham (now also applied to the attorney to the Prince of Wales).
