n.
Pronunciation: ' pär-l ə -m ə nt also ' pärl-y ə -
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French parlement, from parler
Date: 13th century
1 : a formal conference for the discussion of public affairs specifically : a council of state in early medieval England
2 a : an assemblage of the nobility, clergy, and commons called together by the British sovereign as the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom b : a similar assemblage in another nation or state
3 a : the supreme legislative body of a usually major political unit that is a continuing institution comprising a series of individual assemblages b : the British House of Commons
4 : one of several principal courts of justice existing in France before the Revolution of 1789