parliament

noun

In many countries, the legislative branch of government, a deliberative assembly or set of assemblies whose elected or appointed members meet to debate the major political issues of the day, make, amend, and repeal laws, authorize the executive branch of government to collect and spend money, and in some cases exercise judicial powers; a legislature.

A particular assembly of the members of such a legislature, as convened for a specific purpose or period of time (commonly designated with an ordinal number – for example, first parliament or 12th parliament – or a descriptive adjective – for example, Long Parliament, Short Parliament and Rump Parliament).

(collective) A gathering of birds, especially rooks or owls.

Alternative letter-case form of parliament, a specific parliament, particularly that of England or the United Kingdom. [(now chiefly historical) A formal council summoned (especially by a monarch) to discuss important issues.]

(now chiefly historical) A formal council summoned (especially by a monarch) to discuss important issues.

(historical) Parliament cake, a type of gingerbread.

Roots

parlareparl- · Italian · speak, talk

Synonyms for parliament

legislaturen congressn assemblyn counciln

Synonyms & related words for parliament

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of parliament — including legislature, congress, assembly, council. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to parliament

Explore words related to parliament — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include parliamentary, parliamentarians, parliamentarianism, backbench, legislative, senate, prorogation, unicameral. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Synonyms for parliament

Common synonyms for parliament include legislature, congress, assembly, council — words that share a close meaning. Hover or tap any word on the map for its definition and part of speech.

Where does parliament come from?

The word parliament breaks down into one root of Italian origin: the root parl-, from Italian parlare (“speak, talk”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.