Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A council of the British sovereign that until the 1600s was the supreme legislative body, that now consists of cabinet ministers ex officio and others appointed for life, and that has no important function except through its Judicial Committee, which in certain cases acts as a supreme appellate court in the Commonwealth.
- noun An advisory council to an executive.
Etymologies
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Examples
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Historically, the term Privy Council refers to private counsellors to the sovereign or governor general.
framework 2006
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Agamemnon, once awake, thought doubtfully of _his_ dream; he called a Privy Council, told the princes about his dream -- of which Nestor had a very dubious opinion -- and said that he would try the temper of the army by proposing instant flight: the chiefs should restrain the men if they were eager to run away.
Homer and His Age Andrew Lang 1878
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Smith, Joseph H., Appeals to the Privy Council from the American Plantations 1950.
A History of American Law Lawrence M. Friedman 1985
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Joseph H. Smith’s Appeals to the Privy Council from the American Plantations 1950 is the definitive study of its subject.
A History of American Law Lawrence M. Friedman 1985
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In the view of the Chancellor, the Privy Council was the pivot of the constitution.
Life of Edward Earl of Clarendon — Volume 02 Henry Craik 1886
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If Ireland is a nation, the Government of Great Britain is an alien Government; the judgments of the Privy Council are the judgments of an alien Court, and reason forbids us to expect more submission to the decisions of an alien tribunal than to the laws of an alien legislature.
A Leap in the Dark A Criticism of the Principles of Home Rule as Illustrated by the Bill of 1893 Albert Venn Dicey 1878
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Mr Stephen's elevation to the Privy Council will be a very proper reward for his long and faithful services.
The Letters of Queen Victoria, Vol 2 (of 3), 1844-1853 A Selection from her Majesty's correspondence between the years 1837 and 1861 Queen of Great Britain Victoria 1860
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"The presence of the Privy Council is the most concrete evidence that Thailand is anything but a democracy."
Bloomberg 2010
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"The presence of the Privy Council is the most concrete evidence that Thailand is anything but a democracy."
Bloomberg 2010
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The review is being carried out by a panel of the Privy Council, which is investigating the period from summer 2001 to July 2009.
Bloomberg 2010
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