Nearby Words

senate

[sen-it] Origin

sen·ate

[sen-it]
noun
1.
an assembly or council of citizens having the highest deliberative functions in a government, especially a legislative assembly of a state or nation.
2.
(initial capital letter) the upper house of the legislature of certain countries, as the United States, France, Italy, Canada, Ireland, Republic of South Africa, Australia, and some Latin American countries.
3.
the room or building in which such a group meets.
4.
Roman History. the supreme council of state, the membership and functions of which varied at different periods.
5.
a governing, advisory, or disciplinary body, as in certain universities.

Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English senat < Latin senātus council of elders, equivalent to sen(ex) old + -ātus -ate3
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Senate is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Collins
World English Dictionary
senate (ˈsɛnɪt)
 
n
1.  any legislative or governing body considered to resemble a Senate
2.  the main governing body at some colleges and universities
 
[C13: from Latin senātus council of the elders, from senex an old man]

Senate (ˈsɛnɪt)
 
n
1.  the upper chamber of the legislatures of the US, Canada, Australia, and many other countries
2.  the legislative council of ancient Rome. Originally the council of the kings, the Senate became the highest legislative, judicial, and religious authority in republican Rome
3.  the ruling body of certain free cities in medieval and modern Europe

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

senate
c.1200, "legal and administrative body of ancient Rome," from O.Fr. senat or L. senatus "highest council of the state in ancient Rome," lit. "council of elders," from senex (gen. senis) "old man, old" (see senile). Attested from late 14c. in reference to governing bodies
EXPAND
of free cities in Europe; of national governing bodies from 1550s; specific sense of upper house of U.S. legislature is recorded from 1775.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton
Bible Dictionary

Senate definition


(Acts 5:21), the "elders of Israel" who formed a component part of the Sanhedrin.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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