| 释义 |
devil's advocate
dev·il's advocate (dĕv′əlz)n.1. One who argues against a cause or position, not as a committed opponent but simply for the sake of argument or to determine the validity of the cause or position.2. Roman Catholic Church An official formerly appointed to present arguments against a proposed canonization or beatification.
[Translation of Medieval Latin advocātus diabolī, one arguing for the devil's plea against canonizing a saint : Latin advocātus, advocate + Late Latin diabolī, genitive of diabolus, devil.]devil's advocate n 1. a person who advocates an opposing or unpopular view, often for the sake of argument 2. (Roman Catholic Church) RC Church the official appointed to put the case against the beatification or canonization of a candidate. Technical name: promotor fidei [translation of New Latin advocātus diabolī]dev′il's ad′vocate
n. 1. a person who advocates an opposing view, as for the sake of argument. 2. an official of the Roman Catholic Church whose duty is to argue against a proposed beatification or canonization. Thesaurus| Noun | 1. | devil's advocate - someone who takes the worse side just for the sake of argumentarguer, debater - someone who engages in debate |
Translationsdevil's advocate
devil's advocateOne who argues against or attacks an idea, argument, or proposition—even if one is in favor of it—for the sake of debate or to further examine its strength, validity, or details. Refers to the "Advocatus Diaboli," a person employed by the Catholic Church to argue against the canonization of a saint (and therefore help determine if that person is truly worthy of sainthood). I'm all for universal health care, but let me be the devil's advocate for a moment. How do you propose the government fund such a massive undertaking? Tom always plays devil's advocate in any given conversation because he loves picking apart other people's arguments.See also: advocatedevil's advocateOne who argues against a cause or position either for the sake of argument or to help determine its validity. For example, My role in the campaign is to play devil's advocate to each new policy before it's introduced to the public . This term comes from the Roman Catholic Church, where advocatus diaboli (Latin for "devil's advocate") signifies an official who is appointed to present arguments against a proposed canonization or beatification. It was transferred to wider use in the mid-1700s. See also: advocatea/the devil’s ˈadvocate a person who argues against something, even though they really agree with it, just to test the arguments for it: Helen doesn’t really think that women shouldn’t go out to work. She just likes to play devil’s advocate.See also: advocatedevil's advocate
devil's advocate: see canonizationcanonization
, in the Roman Catholic Church, process by which a person is classified as a saint. It is now performed at Rome alone, although in the Middle Ages and earlier bishops elsewhere used to canonize.
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