parliamentary

adjective

par·​lia·​men·​ta·​ry ˌpär-lə-ˈmen-t(ə-)rē 

 also  ˌpärl-yə-

1

a

: of or relating to a parliament

parliamentary elections

parliamentary debate

b

: enacted, done, or ratified by a parliament

a parliamentary grant of money

2

: of or adhering to the parliament as opposed to the king during the English Civil War

… rendered the parliamentary armies … victorious.

—David Hume

3

: of, based on, or having the characteristics of parliamentary government

parliamentary democracy

4

: of or relating to members of a parliament

have the leader selected by the parliamentary caucus

—London Times

5

: of or according to parliamentary law

parliamentary procedure

Examples of parliamentary in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Le Pen, the RN party itself, and 24 others — party officials, employees, former lawmakers and parliamentary assistants — are all accused of using European Parliament money to pay staff in France who were working for their party, which at the time was called the National Front. —Reuters, NBC News, 14 Nov. 2024

For the most part, the government remained in the hands of more centrist politicians, although these parliamentary alliances regularly fell apart as the government was beset with both domestic and international challenges. —Christine Adams / Made By History, TIME, 5 Nov. 2024

Recent parliamentary elections in Georgia, where the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party secured victory amid widespread reports of Russian interference, may have also given Moscow a taste of success. —Clare Sebastian, CNN, 4 Nov. 2024

The pro-Western government led by the Party of Action and Solidarity has been in power in Moldova since 2021, and a parliamentary election will be held in 2025. —Stephen McGrath and Nicolae Dumitrache, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin parlamentārius, parliamentārius, from parlamentum, parliamentum parliament + Latin -ārius -ary entry 2

First Known Use

1604, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing parliamentary

• parliamentary government
• parliamentary law

Kids Definition

parliamentary

adjective

par·​lia·​men·​ta·​ry ˌpär-lə-ˈment-ə-rē 

-ˈmen-trē,

 also  ˌpärl-yə-

1

: of, relating to, or enacted by a parliament

2

: of or relating to government by a cabinet whose members belong to and are responsible to the legislature

3

: of or according to the rules governing the way in which official meetings (as of a parliament or congress) are conducted

parliamentary procedure

Legal Definition

parliamentary

adjective

par·​lia·​men·​ta·​ry ˌpär-lə-ˈmen-tə-rē, ˌpärl-yə- 

1

a

: of or relating to a parliament

b

: enacted, done, or ratified by a parliament

2

: of, based on, or having the characteristics of parliamentary government

3

: of or relating to the members of a parliament

4

: of or according to parliamentary law