parliamentarian

noun

par·​lia·​men·​tar·​i·​an ˌpär-lə-ˌmen-ˈter-ē-ən 

-mən-,

 also  ˌpärl-yə-

1

often capitalized : an adherent of the parliament in opposition to the king during the English Civil War

2

: an expert in the rules and usages of a deliberative assembly (such as a parliament)

3

: a member of a parliament

Examples of parliamentarian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

While legislating to force Europeans to only buy new EVs by 2035, its parliamentarians failed to notice only China had the technology to supply them at affordable prices. —Neil Winton, Forbes.com, 6 Sep. 2025

Protests began on Monday over what demonstrators called excessive pay and housing allowances for parliamentarians, escalating into riots on Friday after a motorcycle rideshare driver was killed during police action at a protest site. —CNN Money, 1 Sep. 2025

The Social Democrats—the only other significant group of parliamentarians that still fundamentally supported democracy—were too few to stop it alone. —Daniel Ziblatt, Foreign Affairs, 28 Aug. 2025

Australia recently barred the entrance of one far-right Israeli parliamentarian, citing his violent and inflammatory language against Palestinians. —Asher Kaufman, The Conversation, 23 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

parliament + -arian

First Known Use

1642, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for parliamentarian

• authoritarian
• communitarian
• disciplinarian
• egalitarian
• equalitarian
• humanitarian
• majoritarian
• octogenarian
• radiolarian
• totalitarian
• utilitarian
• agrarian

Kids Definition

parliamentarian

noun

par·​lia·​men·​tar·​i·​an ˌpär-lə-ˌmen-ˈter-ē-ən 

-mən-,

 also  ˌpärl-yə-

: an expert in parliamentary procedure

Legal Definition

parliamentarian

noun

par·​lia·​men·​tar·​i·​an ˌpär-lə-ˌmen-ˈtar-ē-ən, ˌpärl-yə-, -mən- 

1

: an expert in the rules and usages of a parliament or other deliberative assembly

specifically, often capitalized : an officer of a legislative body acting as adviser on matters of procedure

Note: The parliamentarian of the U.S. House of Representatives is appointed by the Speaker of the House. The Secretary of the Senate appoints the Senate's parliamentarian with approval of the majority leader.

2

: a member of a parliament