Library / English Dictionary |
COUNCIL
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A meeting of people for consultation
Example:
emergency council
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("council" is a kind of...):
group meeting; meeting (a formally arranged gathering)
Meronyms (members of "council"):
council member; councillor (a member of a council)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "council"):
indaba (a council at which indigenous peoples of southern Africa meet to discuss some important question)
Jirga (a Pashto term for a decision making assembly of male elders)
powwow (a council of or with Native Americans)
synod (a council convened to discuss ecclesiastical business)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A body serving in an administrative capacity
Example:
student council
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("council" is a kind of...):
administrative body; administrative unit (a unit with administrative responsibilities)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "council"):
world council (a council with representatives from different nations)
soviet (an elected governmental council in a communist country (especially one that is a member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics))
works council ((chiefly Brit) a council representing employer and employees of a plant or business to discuss working conditions etc; also: a committee representing the workers elected to negotiate with management about grievances and wages etc)
privy council (an advisory council to a ruler (especially to the British Crown))
panchayat; panchayet; punchayet (a village council in India or southern Pakistan)
executive council (a council that shares the supreme executive power)
city council (a municipal body that can pass ordinances and appropriate funds etc.)
NAC; North Atlantic Council (a council consisting of permanent representatives of all the member countries of NATO; has political authority and powers of decision)
Economic and Social Council; ECOSOC (a permanent council of the United Nations; responsible for economic and social conditions)
TC; Trusteeship Council (a permanent council of the United Nations that commissions a country (or countries) to undertake the administration of a territory)
SC; Security Council (a permanent council of the United Nations; responsible for preserving world peace)
Sanhedrin (the supreme judicial and ecclesiastical council of ancient Jerusalem)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(Christianity) an assembly of theologians and bishops and other representatives of different churches or dioceses that is convened to regulate matters of discipline or doctrine
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("council" is a kind of...):
assembly (a group of persons who are gathered together for a common purpose)
Domain category:
Christian religion; Christianity (a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "council"):
ecumenical council ((early Christian church) one of seven gatherings of bishops from around the known world under the presidency of the Pope to regulate matters of faith and morals and discipline)
Constantinople; Fourth Council of Constantinople (the council in 869 that condemned Photius who had become the patriarch of Constantinople without approval from the Vatican, thereby precipitating the schism between the eastern and western churches)
Lateran Council (any of five general councils of the Western Catholic Church that were held in the Lateran Palace)
First Council of Lyons; Lyons (the council of the Western Church in 1245 that excommunicated Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and planned a new crusade against the Holy Land)
Lyons; Second Council of Lyons (the council in 1274 that effected a temporary reunion of the Greek Orthodox with the Roman Catholic Church)
Council of Vienne; Vienne (the council in 1311-1313 that dealt with alleged crimes of the Knights Templar, planned a new crusade, and took on the reformation of the clergy)
Constance; Council of Constance (the council in 1414-1418 that succeeded in ending the Great Schism in the Roman Catholic Church)
Council of Basel-Ferrara-Florence (the council in 1431-1439 that concentrated on the elimination of heresies and on reforms within the Roman Catholic Church)
Council of Trent (a council of the Roman Catholic Church convened in Trento in three sessions between 1545 and 1563 to examine and condemn the teachings of Martin Luther and other Protestant reformers; redefined the Roman Catholic doctrine and abolished various ecclesiastical abuses and strengthened the papacy)
Vatican Council (each of two councils of the Roman Catholic Church)
Context examples:
When to-day we meet, I must tell her that for reason which we will not to speak she must not more be of our council, but be simply guarded by us.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
The golden feather was brought to the king in the morning, and all the council was called together.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
As to the arrest of John Mitton, the valet, it was a council of despair as an alternative to absolute inaction.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Mr. Dick had regularly assisted at our councils, with a meditative and sage demeanour.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The plan was talked over in a family council and agreed upon, for Mrs. Kirke gladly accepted Jo, and promised to make a pleasant home for her.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
A council was now held by the whole tribe squatting in a circle, whilst we sat near on a slab of basalt and watched their proceedings.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Daniel San Vicente, cardiologist and president of the Montevideo regional council of the Medical College of Uruguay, said the current concentration of particles in the air was not enough to have an impact on health.
(Australian bushfire smoke drifts to South America, SciDev.Net)
But in the council one night, after long deliberation, it was determined to put spies on his track when he went forth to hunt, so that his methods might be learned.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
As for that lot and their council, mark me, they're outright fools and cowards.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
In this council was resumed their old debate, and indeed the only debate that ever happened in their country; whereof my master, after his return, give me a very particular account.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)