senate

English

Etymology

From Middle English senat, from Old French senat, from Latin senātus (“council of elders; a senate”), from senex (“old”).

Pronunciation

• (RP, UA) IPA: /ˈsɛnɪt/, /ˈsɛnət/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛnɪt

Noun

senate (plural senates)

1. In some bicameral legislative systems, the upper house or chamber.
2. A group of experienced, respected, wise individuals serving as decision makers or advisors in a political system or in institutional governance, as in a university, and traditionally of advanced age and male.
   • 1818, Percy Bysshe Shelley,"The Revolt of Islam", canto 11, stanza 13, lines 4338-9,

     Before the Tyrant's throne

     All night his aged Senate sate.

Related terms

senator senatorial senatus

senescent senile senior

Translations

the upper house in some bicameral legislative systems.

• Afrikaans: senaat (af)
• Arabic: مجلس الشيوخ (ar) (májlis al-šuyūx) m
• Armenian: սենատ (hy) (senat)
• Bulgarian: сенат (bg) (senát) m
• Catalan: senat (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 參議院 (cmn), 参议院 (cmn) (cānyìyuàn)

• Czech: senát (cs) m
• Danish: senat (da)
• Dutch: senaat (nl) m
• Esperanto: senato (eo)
• Finnish: senaatti (fi)
• French: sénat (fr) m
• German: Senat (de) m
• Greek: γερουσία (el) (gerousía) f
• Haitian Creole: sena
• Hebrew: כנסט (he)

• Icelandic: öldungadeild (is) f
• Irish: seanad (ga)
• Italian: senato (it) m
• Japanese: 上院 (ja) (じょういん, jōin), 元老院 (ja) (げんろういん, genrōin) (Rome)
• Khmer: ព្រឹទ្ធិសភា (km) (pruet sak phea)
• Latin: senatus (la) m
• Norwegian: senat (no)
• Persian: سنا (fa) (senâ)
• Polish: senat (pl) m
• Portuguese: senado (pt) m
• Russian: сенат (ru) (senát) m
• Sotho: senate (st)
• Spanish: senado (es) m
• Swedish: senat (sv) c
• Ukrainian: сенат (uk) (senát) m
• Welsh: senedd (cy)

References

• senate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• “senate” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.

Anagrams

• sateen