SENATE

noun the governing body of the universities of cambridge and london.

2. senate ·noun an assembly or council having the highest deliberative and legislative functions.

3. senate ·noun in general, a legislative body; a state council; the legislative department of government.

4. senate ·noun a body of elders appointed or elected from among the nobles of the nation, and having supreme legislative authority.

5. senate ·noun the upper and less numerous branch of a legislature in various countries, as in france, in the united states, in most of the separate states of the united states, and in some swiss cantons.

6. senate ·noun in some american colleges, a council of elected students, presided over by the president of the college, to which are referred cases of discipline and matters of general concern affecting the students.