Added 1 October 2026
parliament
/ˈpɑːləmənt/ noun
In Latin: senātus, parlamentum Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about parliament at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A formal council summoned (especially by a monarch) to discuss important issues. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
- 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.
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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).
Following the general election, Jane Doe took her oath of office as a member of the nation's fifth parliament.
Origin
From Middle English parlement, from Anglo-Norman parliament, parlement, parliment and Old French parlement (“discussion, meeting, negotiation; assembly, council”), from parler (“to speak”) + -ment (“-ment”, suffix forming nouns from verbs, usually indicating an action or state resulting from them) (from Latin -mentum). Compare Medieval Latin parlamentum, parliamentum (“discussion, meeting; council or court summoned by the monarch”), Italian parlamento and Sicilian parramentu.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)