Did you know?
Unicameral means "one-chambered", and the term almost always describes a governing body. Our federal legislature, like those of most democracies, is bicameral, with two legislative (lawmaking) bodies—the Senate and the House of Representatives. And except for Nebraska, all the state legislatures are also bicameral. So why did the nation decide on a bicameral system? Partly in order to keep some power out of the hands of ordinary voters, who the Founding Fathers didn't completely trust. For that reason, the original Constitution states that senators are to be elected by the state legislatures; not until 1914, after passage of a Constitutional amendment, did we first cast direct votes for our senators.
Examples of unicameral in a Sentence
Stella Kim, NBC News, 9 Dec. 2024
The big picture: The unicameral National Assembly, where the opposition Democratic Party has a majority, blocked the martial law order, which had suspended all political activity, according to multiple reports.
—Avery Lotz, Axios, 3 Dec. 2024
The 14th Supreme People's Assembly, the unicameral legislative body of the country, amended the national constitution last year to enshrine nuclear weaponization as a core principle.
—Timothy H.j. Nerozzi Fox News, Fox News, 28 Sep. 2024
Bacon is facing off in a rematch against Tony Vargas, a Democratic member of Nebraska's unicameral legislature.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for unicameral 
Dictionary Entries Near unicameral
Cite this Entry
“Unicameral.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unicameral. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
unicameral
adjective
Share