\Par"lia*ment\, n. [OE. parlement, F. parlement, fr.
parler to speak; cf. LL. parlamentum, parliamentum. See
{Parley}.]
1. A parleying; a discussion; a conference. [Obs.]
         But first they held their parliament. --Rom. of R.
2. A formal conference on public affairs; a general council;
   esp., an assembly of representatives of a nation or people
   having authority to make laws.
         They made request that it might be lawful for them
         to summon a parliament of Gauls.      --Golding.
3. The assembly of the three estates of the United Kingdom of
   Great Britain and Ireland, viz., the lords spiritual,
   lords temporal, and the representatives of the commons,
   sitting in the House of Lords and the House of Commons,
   constituting the legislature, when summoned by the royal
   authority to consult on the affairs of the nation, and to
   enact and repeal laws.
Note: Thought the sovereign is a constituting branch of
      Parliament, the word is generally used to denote the
      three estates named above.
4. In France, before the Revolution of 1789, one of the
   several principal judicial courts.
{Parliament heel}, the inclination of a ship when made to
   careen by shifting her cargo or ballast.
{Parliament hinge} (Arch.), a hinge with so great a
   projection from the wall or frame as to allow a door or
   shutter to swing back flat against the wall.
{Long Parliament}, {Rump Parliament}. See under {Long}, and
   {Rump}.