Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A representative body having supreme legislative powers within a state or multinational organization.
  • noun The national legislature of the United Kingdom, made up of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To busy one's self with parliamentary matters; attend to one's duties as member of Parliament.
  • noun A conference or consultation.
  • noun A meeting or assembly for conference or deliberation; especially, an assembly of the people or their representatives to deliberate or legislate on national affairs.
  • noun Specifically [capitalized] The supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, consisting of the three estates of the realm, namely the lords spiritual, the lords temporal, and the commons; the general council of the nation, constituting the legislature, summoned by the sovereign's authority to consult on the affairs of the nation and to enact and repeal laws.
  • noun [capitalized] One of similar legislative bodies constituting the legislatures of the Dominion of Canada, New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria, and other self-governing colonies of the British empire.
  • noun In France, before the revolution of 1789, one of several courts, including various provincial parliaments, and especially the Parliament of Paris (see below).
  • noun In law, an assembly of the members of the two Temples (Inner and Middle) to consult upon the affairs of the society.
  • noun [Short for parliament-cake.] Same as parliament-cake

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A parleying; a discussion; a conference.
  • noun A formal conference on public affairs; a general council
  • noun 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.
  • noun In France, before the Revolution of 1789, one of the several principal judicial courts.
  • noun the inclination of a ship when made to careen by shifting her cargo or ballast.
  • noun (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.
  • noun See under Long, and Rump.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An institution whose elected or appointed members meet to debate the major political issues of the day and usually to exercise legislative powers and sometimes judicial powers.
  • noun A collective noun for a flock of owls or rooks.
  • noun historical Parliament cake; a type of gingerbread.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a legislative assembly in certain countries
  • noun a card game in which you play your sevens and other cards in sequence in the same suit as the sevens; you win if you are the first to use all your cards

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, a meeting about national concerns, from Old French parlement, from parler, to talk; see parley.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin parlamentum and its sources, Anglo-Norman and Old French parlement ("discussion, meeting, assembly, council"), from parler ("to speak"), and -ment ("medium").

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Examples

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  • A flock of owls

    November 16, 2007