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DictionarysenateUpper legislative chamber
noun / proper noun

senate

SEN-it/ˈsenət/

The upper chamber of a two-chamber legislature.

The state senate debates the education bill this afternoon.

A formal legislative vote in a compact semicircular chamber, retaining the previously reviewed staging and cast while eliminating unnecessary documents that attracted incidental writing.
Etymology
senateLatincouncil of elders

Latin senatus meant a “council of elders,” connecting government with seniority. The name of Rome’s governing council later extended to other legislative bodies, especially upper chambers.

In context

Center for Strategic & International Studies3:12
put into the parliament foreign policy and defence matters for debate that is not for resolution but for debate and um in the house of representatives as opposed to the senate
Interview Australian Ambassador to the U S , Kim Beazley, on the newly elected Australian government

More examples

  • The bill must pass both the house and the senate.
  • Each state has two seats in the United States Senate.
  • She serves in the state senate and chairs its transportation committee.

Forms

senate · senates

senator noun — A member of a senate.

senatorial adjective — Relating to senators or a senate.

Similar words

upper house
Names the same legislative body regardless of its official title.
upper chamber
Describes the body's legislative position rather than naming it.