par·lia·ment /'pär-lə-mənt, 'pärl-yə-/ n [Anglo-French parlement conference, council, parliament, from parler to speak]
1 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
2: the supreme legislative body of a usu. major political unit that is a continuing institution comprising a series of individual assemblages
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law. Merriam-Webster. 1996.