council

noun coun·cil \ ˈkau̇n(t)-səl \

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

Examples: council in a Sentence

Definition of council

1 : an assembly or meeting for consultation, advice, or discussion

the Second Vatican Council

2 : a group elected or appointed as an advisory or legislative body

a governor's council

a city council

3 a : a usually administrative body

a council on housing

b : an executive body whose members are equal in power and authority

c : a governing body of delegates from local units of a federation

4 : deliberation in a council

5 a : a federation of or a central body uniting a group of organizations

the National Council of Teachers of English

b : a local chapter of an organization

c : club, society

See council defined for English-language learners

See council defined for kids

Examples of council in a Sentence

The city council is considering a ban on smoking in restaurants.
the governor's council on physical fitness

Recent Examples of council from the Web

Under city law, the mayor’s powers include running meetings, nominating council members for seats on certain boards and commissions and signing documents such as contracts, resolutions and ordinances approved by the City Council.

— david hernandez, sandiegouniontribune.com, "National City voters deny mayor chance to seek re-election, results show," 7 June 2018
In lieu of a school council, Discovery has an Eco-Action club whose members do annual audits of the school’s energy use, trash, food waste, water consumption, and other metrics.

— chris berdik, WIRED, "Solar Panels Power New Schools—and New Ways of Learning," 6 June 2018
Currently, several councils run by the card networks make those decisions.

— jennifer surane, Bloomberg.com, "Walmart, Visa Resume Lobbying Battle Over Credit-Card Standards," 6 June 2018
Concepcion will resign his council seat in the coming weeks.

— jenna carlesso, Courant Community, "Hartford Councilwoman Must Resign After Changing Party Affiliation," 5 June 2018
The Peachtree Corners City Council meeting for June has been rescheduled to 7 p.m. June 27 in council chambers of City Hall, 310 Technology Parkway.

— karen huppertz, ajc, "Peachtree Corners reschedules council meeting, budget vote," 5 June 2018
If approved by the regional government council, the measure would go to voters in November.

— elliot njus, OregonLive.com, "Metro poised to refer $652.8 million housing bond to voters," 4 June 2018
Councilmember at large Rebecca Kaplan is against legislation to give council President Larry Reid the authority to make committee assignment changes at will on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018 in Oakland, CA.

— matier & ross, San Francisco Chronicle, "Rebecca Kaplan may be looking at another race for Oakland mayor," 4 June 2018
In Boston, the city’s planning council saw what could have happened to Hunts Point during Hurricane Sandy and embarked on a risk assessment of its own food system.

— sean patrick cooper, The New Republic, "Is America Ready for the Next Superstorm?," 4 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'council.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of council

Middle English counceil, from Anglo-French cunseil, cuncile, from Latin concilium, from com- + calare to call — more at low

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

council Synonyms

Synonyms

association, board, brotherhood, chamber, club, college, congress, consortium, fellowship, fraternity, guild (also gild), institute, institution, league, order, organization, society, sodality;

alliance, bloc, camp, coalition, partnership;

body, cadre, group;

circle, clan, clique, coterie, junta, lot, set;

crew, outfit, party, squad, team;

branch, chapter, local;

faithful, fold, membership;

sisterhood, sorority;

cabal, confederacy, conspiracy;

band, gang, ring;

cartel, combine, syndicate;

Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

council

adjective

Definition of council

1 : used for councils especially by or with North American Indians

a council ground

2 British : built, maintained, or operated by a local governing agency

council housing

council flats

See council defined for English-language learners

Origin and Etymology of council

see ¹council

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

COUNCIL Defined for English Language Learners

council

noun

Definition of council for English Language Learners

: a group of people who are chosen to make rules, laws, or decisions about something
: a group of people who provide advice or guidance on something

council

adjective

Definition of council for English Language Learners

: of or relating to a council
: provided by a local government council for people to live in for low rent

COUNCIL Defined for Kids

council

noun coun·cil \ ˈkau̇n-səl \

Definition of council for Students

: a group of people appointed or elected to make laws or give advice

the city council

Law Dictionary

council

noun coun·cil \ ˈkau̇n-səl \

legal Definition of council

: a governmental body: as

a : a group elected as a legislative body

city council

b : an administrative body

council on aging

c : an executive body whose members are equal in power and authority — compare committee 2b

Learn More about council

See words that rhyme with council Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for council Spanish Central: Translation of council Nglish: Translation of council for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of council for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about council

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council

Definition of council

Examples of council in a Sentence

Recent Examples of council from the Web

Origin and Etymology of council

council Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Other Government and Politics Terms

council

Definition of council

Origin and Etymology of council

Phrases Related to COUNCIL

Related Phrases

COUNCIL Defined for English Language Learners

council

Definition of council for English Language Learners

council

Definition of council for English Language Learners

COUNCIL Defined for Kids

council

Definition of council for Students

Law Dictionary

council

legal Definition of council

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