Parliament

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A parleying; a discussion; a conference. [Obs.] But first they held their parliament. Rom. of R.

2. A formal conference on public affairs; a general council; esp., an assembly of representatives of a nation or people having authority to make laws. They made request that it might be lawful for them to summon a parliament of Gauls. Golding.

3. 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.

4. In France, before the Revolution of 1789, one of the several principal judicial courts. Parliament heel, the inclination of a ship when made to careen by shifting her cargo or ballast. -- Parliament hinge (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. -- Long Parliament, Rump Parliament. See under Long, and Rump.