parliamentary

adjective

par·​lia·​men·​ta·​ry ˌpär-lə-ˈmen-t(ə-)rē How to pronounce parliamentary (audio)
 also  ˌpärl-yə-
1
a
: of or relating to a parliament
parliamentary elections
parliamentary debate
b
: enacted, done, or ratified by a parliament
a parliamentary grant of money
2
: of or adhering to the parliament as opposed to the king during the English Civil War
… rendered the parliamentary armies … victorious.David Hume
3
: of, based on, or having the characteristics of parliamentary government
parliamentary democracy
4
: of or relating to members of a parliament
have the leader selected by the parliamentary caucusLondon Times
5
: of or according to parliamentary law
parliamentary procedure

Examples of parliamentary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Compared with national elections in Europe, EU parliamentary elections often are viewed as a sideshow, as public turnout drops radically and fringe parties benefit from protest voting. Lenora Chu, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 June 2024 The tipster was in possession of a small red hard drive containing thousands of documents that revealed widespread abuse by legislators of their parliamentary expense accounts. Michael M. Grynbaum, New York Times, 4 June 2024 But progress is on the horizon in the Bundestag — the lower house of parliament — where lawmakers have been instructed by the parliamentary budget committee to ditch their trusty fax machines by the end of June, and rely on email instead for official communication. Esme Nicholson, NPR, 31 May 2024 The meeting shifted to evasions and personal insults that were decidedly more catty than parliamentary. Armond White, National Review, 22 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for parliamentary 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'parliamentary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin parlamentārius, parliamentārius, from parlamentum, parliamentum parliament + Latin -ārius -ary entry 2

First Known Use

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of parliamentary was in 1604

Dictionary Entries Near parliamentary

Cite this Entry

“Parliamentary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parliamentary. Accessed 9 Jun. 2024.

Kids Definition

parliamentary

adjective
par·​lia·​men·​ta·​ry ˌpär-lə-ˈment-ə-rē How to pronounce parliamentary (audio)
-ˈmen-trē,
 also  ˌpärl-yə-
1
: of, relating to, or enacted by a parliament
2
: of or relating to government by a cabinet whose members belong to and are responsible to the legislature
3
: of or according to the rules governing the way in which official meetings (as of a parliament or congress) are conducted
parliamentary procedure

Legal Definition

parliamentary

adjective
par·​lia·​men·​ta·​ry ˌpär-lə-ˈmen-tə-rē, ˌpärl-yə- How to pronounce parliamentary (audio)
1
a
: of or relating to a parliament
b
: enacted, done, or ratified by a parliament
2
: of, based on, or having the characteristics of parliamentary government
3
: of or relating to the members of a parliament
4
: of or according to parliamentary law
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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