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Definition of parliament - 7 dictionary results

par⋅lia⋅ment

  [pahr-luh-muhnt or, sometimes, pahrl-yuh-]
Use parliament in a Sentence
–noun
1. (usually initial capital letter) the legislature of Great Britain, historically the assembly of the three estates, now composed of Lords Spiritual and Lords Temporal, forming together the House of Lords, and representatives of the counties, cities, boroughs, and universities, forming the House of Commons.
2. (usually initial capital letter) the legislature of certain British colonies and possessions.
3. a legislative body in any of various other countries.
4. French History. any of several high courts of justice in France before 1789.
5. a meeting or assembly for conference on public or national affairs.
6. Cards. fan-tan (def. 1).
Origin:
1250–1300; ME: discourse, consultation, Parliament < AL parliamentum, alter. of ML parlāmentum < OF parlement a speaking, conference (see parle, -ment ); r. ME parlement < OF

fan-tan

  [fan-tan]
–noun
1. Also, fan tan. Also called parliament, sevens. Cards. a game in which the players play their sevens and other cards forming sequences in the same suits as their sevens, the winner being the player who first runs out of cards.
2. a Chinese gambling game in which a pile of coins, counters, or objects is placed under a bowl and bets are made on what the remainder will be after they have been counted off in fours.
Origin:
1875–80; < Chin fān tān lit., repeated divisions, or < cognate dial. forms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To parliament
par·lia·ment   (pär'lə-mənt)   
n.  
  1. A national representative body having supreme legislative powers within the state.
  2. Parliament The national legislature of various countries, especially that of the United Kingdom, made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

[Middle English, a meeting about national concerns, from Old French parlement, from parler, to talk; see parley.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Parliament

Par"lia*ment\, n. [OE. parlement, F. parlement, fr. parler to speak; cf. LL. parlamentum, parliamentum. See Parley.]

1. A parleying; a discussion; a conference. [Obs.]

But first they held their parliament. --Rom. of R.

2. A formal conference on public affairs; a general council; esp., an assembly of representatives of a nation or people having authority to make laws.

They made request that it might be lawful for them to summon a parliament of Gauls. --Golding.

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.

Note: Thought the sovereign is a constituting branch of Parliament, the word is generally used to denote the three estates named above.

4. In France, before the Revolution of 1789, one of the several principal judicial courts.

Parliament heel, the inclination of a ship when made to careen by shifting her cargo or ballast.

Parliament hinge (Arch.), a hinge with so great a projection from the wall or frame as to allow a door or shutter to swing back flat against the wall.

Long Parliament, Rump Parliament. See under Long, and Rump.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : parliament
Spanish: parlamento,
German: das Parlament,
Japanese: 議会
More Translations »

parliament [(pahr-luh-muhnt)]

An assembly of representatives, usually of an entire nation, that makes laws. Parliaments began in the Middle Ages in struggles for power between kings and their people. Today, parliaments differ from other kinds of legislatures in one important way: some of the representatives in the parliament serve as government ministers, in charge of carrying out the laws that the parliament passes. Generally, a parliament is divided by political parties, and the representative who leads the strongest political party in the parliament becomes the nation's head of government. This leader is usually called the prime minister or premier. Typically, a different person — usually a king, queen, or president — is head of state, and this person's duties are usually more ceremonial than governmental.

Note: The number of nations governed by parliaments has greatly increased in modern times.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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parliament 
c.1290, from O.Fr. parlement (11c.), originally "speaking, talk," from parler "to speak" (see parley); spelling altered c.1400 to conform with M.L. parliamentum. Anglo-L. parliamentum is attested from 1216. Parliamentarian originally (1644) was a designation of one of the sides in the Eng. Civil War; meaning "one versed in parliamentary procedure" dates from 1834.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: par·lia·ment
Pronunciation: 'pär-l&-m&nt, 'pärl-y&-
Function: noun
Etymology: Anglo-French parlement conference, council, parliament, from parler to speak
1 a : an assemblage of the nobility, clergy, and commons called together by the British sovereign as the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom b : a similar assemblage in another nation or state
2 : the supreme legislative body of a usually major political unit that is a continuing institution comprising a series of individual assemblages
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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