Parliament
Par´lia`ment
| n. | 1. | A parleying; a discussion; a conference. |
| 2. | A formal conference on public affairs; a general council; |
| 3. | The assembly of the three estates of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, viz., the lords spiritual, lords temporal, and the representatives of the commons, sitting in the House of Lords and the House of Commons, constituting the legislature, when summoned by the royal authority to consult on the affairs of the nation, and to enact and repeal laws. |
| 4. | In France, before the Revolution of 1789, one of the several principal judicial courts. |
PARLIAMENT. This word, derived from the French parlement, in the English
law, is used to designate the legislative branch of the government of Great
Britain, composed of the house of lords, and the house of commons.
2. It is an error to regard the king of Great Britain as forming a part
of parliament. The connexion between the king and the lords spiritual, the
lords temporal, and the commons, which, when assembled in parliament, form
the, three states of the realm, is the same as that which subsists between
the king and those states -- the people at large -- out of parliament;
Colton's Records, 710; the king not being, in either case, a member, branch,
or co-estate, but standing solely in the relation of sovereign or head.
Rot. Par. vol. iii,. 623 a.; 2 Mann. & Gr. 457 n.
Parliament,
assembly,
bicameral legislature,
board of aldermen,
chamber of deputies,
city board,
city council,
commission,
common council,
congress,
council,
court,
diet,
federal assembly,
general assembly,
house of assembly,
legislative assembly,
legislative body,
legislative chamber,
legislature,
lower chamber,
lower house,
national assembly,
provincial legislature,
provincial parliament,
representative town meeting,
soviet,
state assembly,
state legislature,
town meeting,
unicameral legislature,
upper chamber,
upper house
parliament - a legislative assembly in certain countries (e.g., Great Britain)