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legislature

UK/ˈlɛd͡ʒɪsləˌt͡ʃʊə/US/ˈlɛd͡ʒɪˌsleɪt͡ʃɚ/
nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,176 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: legislatures

A legislature is the body that makes a country's laws. A state legislature, elected to the legislature, the legislature voted.

It is one of the three branches in the standard division of power, alongside the executive that governs and the judiciary that judges. A legislature may have one chamber or two; the second chamber usually exists to slow the first down.

Ermell · CC BY-SA 4.0

Definitions of legislature

  1. 1nounlegislatureThe body that makes a country's laws.C1

    “The state legislature voted to raise the minimum wage.”

legislature is a body of government.

Where it comes from

Formed in the 1670s from the stem of legislator, from Latin legis lator, a proposer of a law.

1676, from stem of legislator + -ure, cognate with French législature.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Politics & Society

Practise this word

legislature in the wild

  • The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly and the California State Senate.

    California State Legislature

  • The California State Legislature is one of ten full-time state legislatures in the United States.

    California State Legislature

  • The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan.

    Michigan Legislature

  • The Virginia General Assembly is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

    Virginia General Assembly

  • Established on July 30, 1619, it is the oldest legislature in the Americas.

    Virginia General Assembly

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.