bicameral

See also: bicaméral

English

WOTD – 13 July 2011

Etymology

From bi- +‎ (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin camera (“chamber”) +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (UK) (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) IPA^(key): /bʌɪˈkaməɹəl/
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

  Audio (US)

  (file)

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Hyphenation: bi‧cam‧er‧al

Adjective

bicameral (not comparable)

1. Relating to characteristics of a system having two, often unequal, chambers.

   the bicameral anatomy of the brain

2. (government) Having, or pertaining to, two separate legislative chambers or houses.
   • 1891, John William Burgess, Political Science and Comparative Constitutional Law, Volume 2, page 108,

     By preventing legislative usurpation in the beginning, the bicameral legislature avoids executive usurpation in the end.

   • 1911, Saxony, article in Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition,

     The legislature (Standeversammlung) is bicameral — the constitution of the co-ordinate chambers being finally settled by a law of 1868 amending the enactment of 1831.

   • 2009 February 9, Carl Hulse, “In Congress, Aides Start to Map Talks on Stimulus”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Once the Senate votes, aides said, the first order of business in the bicameral talks will be to set an overall dollar figure […] .

3. (typography) Of a script or typeface: having two cases, upper case and lower case.
   • 2001, Yves Savourel, XML Internationalization and Localization, page 80,

     Aspect values on bicameral fonts are based on the size of the lowercase characters.

   • 2004, Robert Bringhurst, The Elements of Typographic Style, version 3.0, page 255:

     Bicameral (upper- and lowercase) unserifed roman fonts were apparently first cut in Leipzig in the 1820s.

   • 2004, Parmenides, Peter Koch, et al., Carving the Elements: A Companion to the Fragments of Parmenides, page 91,

     For more than a thousand years, classical Greek has been habitually written in a bicameral, polytonic alphabet (one with caps and lower case and a set of diacritics marking tone and aspiration).

4. (mentality) Relating to the relationship of the two cerebral hemispheres in ancient human beings ‘hearing’ the speech of gods or idols, according to Julian Jaynes's model of the bicameral mind.
   • 1976, 1990, Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston:

     "…to have an idea of the nature and range of the bicameral voices heard in the early civilizations.” p.88;

     “…how could [the brain] have been organized so that a bicameral mentality was possible?” p.101;

     “Bicameral gods [of conquering civilizations] are jealous gods.” p.156, footnote;

     “The closer an individual was to the Inca the more it seems his mentality was bicameral.” p.159;

     “How can we know that…idols ‘spoke’ in the bicameral sense?" p.174.

5. (history) Relating to the interpretation of historical phenomena as evidence supporting the theory of the bicameral mind, without implying a bicameral (two-part) structure.
   • 1976, 1990, Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston:

     “…wherever and whenever civilization first began…there was a succession of kingdoms all with similar characteristics that, somewhat prematurely, I shall call bicameral.” p.149;

     “[The Linear B Tablets] were written directly in what I am calling the bicameral period.” p.80;

     “Like the queen in a termite nest or a beehive, the idols of a bicameral world are the carefully tended centers of social control, with auditory hallucinations instead of pheromones.” p.144;

     “…Maya cities…showing the same bicameral architecture…” p.155;

     “…about A.D. 1200, [the Inca] realm was suggestive of a god-king type of bicameral kingdom.” p.158;

     “…I suggest that given man, language, and cities organized on a bicameral basis, there are only certain fixed patterns into which history can fit.” p.159.

Antonyms

• (typography): caseless, unicameral, unicase

Coordinate terms

• unicameral
• tricameral

Derived terms

• bicameralism
• bicamerality

Translations

having two separate legislative chambers

• Catalan: bicameral
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 兩院制的／两院制的 (zh), 两院制的 (zh) (liǎngyuànzhì de), 有兩個議院的／有两个议院的, 有两个议院的 (yǒu liǎng gè yìyuàn de)

• Czech: dvoukomorový m, bikamerální (cs) m
• Dutch: bikameraal
• Finnish: kaksikamarinen
• French: bicaméral (fr)
• Georgian: ორპალატიანი (orṗalaṭiani)
• Hungarian: kétkamarás (hu)
• Icelandic: tveggja deilda, með þvær þingdeildir
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: bicamerale (it) m
• Japanese: 二院制 (にいんせい, niinsei)
• Korean: 양원제의 (ko) (yang'wonje'ui)
• Polish: dwuizbowy (pl), bikameralny
• Portuguese: bicameral (pt)
• Romanian: bicameral (ro)
• Russian: двухпала́тный (ru) (dvuxpalátnyj)
• Spanish: bicameral
• Ukrainian: двопала́тний (dvopalátnyj)

(typography, of a typeface or script) Having two cases: uppercase and lowercase

• Finnish: bikameraalinen
• French: bicaméral (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: име́ющий ве́рхний и ни́жний реги́стры (iméjuščij vérxnij i nížnij regístry) (no exact term exists)

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Catalan

Etymology

bi- +‎ cameral; cf. French bicaméral, English bicameral.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [bi.kə.məˈɾal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [bi.ka.meˈɾal]
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Rhymes: -al

Adjective

bicameral m or f (masculine and feminine plural bicamerals)

1. bicameral

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Portuguese

Etymology

bi- +‎ cameral; cf. French bicaméral, English bicameral.

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Hyphenation: bi‧ca‧me‧ral

Adjective

1. (politics) bicameral (having two separate legislative chambers)

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Spanish

Etymology

bi- +‎ cameral, or borrowed from French bicaméral.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bikameˈɾal/ [bi.ka.meˈɾal]
• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter) Hyphenation: bi‧ca‧me‧ral

Adjective

bicameral m or f (masculine and feminine plural bicamerales)

1. bicameral