senate
Pluralsenates
- 1The upper house or chamber in some bicameral legislative systems, such as the United States Congress.
The senate rejected the budget bill by a narrow margin.
Several countries have abolished their senates in favor of single-chamber parliaments.
UsageUsually the Senate, with a capital S, for a named country's chamber, as in the US Senate. Its members are senators.
Similarassembly
- 2A body of experienced and respected individuals who serve as decision makers or advisors in a political system or in institutional governance, such as a university, traditionally composed of people of advanced age.
The faculty senate approved the new curriculum after months of debate.
Rome's senate advised the consuls on matters of war and finance.
UsageOften named by the group it serves: the faculty senate, the university senate, the Roman senate.
Similarcouncil
Note
Age is built into the name, and Percy Bysshe Shelley's The Revolt of Islam (1818) still leans on it with "his aged Senate." The word now sits as comfortably in a university's governance as in a state's. In the faculty senate, standing and experience matter more than years.
- 3In Germany, the executive government of the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, the historical governments of cities that belonged to the Hanseatic League, or the bench of judges in a higher appellate court.
The Hamburg senate approved a major expansion of the port.
The third senate of the Federal Court of Justice will hear the appeal next month.
Note
A false friend for English readers: in these German uses the word names bodies that govern or judge rather than legislate. In Berlin, Bremen or Hamburg the senate is the city's executive government, not an upper house. In a higher appellate court a senate is a bench of judges. When writing about Germany, keep the word but make the function clear so readers do not picture a chamber of lawmakers.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of senate apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
Latin senātus ("council of elders; a senate"), formed from senex ("old"), passed into Old French as senat and from there into Middle English as senat.