Part 76

Par"lia*ment (?), n. [OE. parlement, F. parlement, fr. parler to speak; cf. LL. parlamentum, parliamentum. See Parley.] 1. A parleying; a discussion; a conference. [Obs.]

But first they held their parliament.

Rom. of R.

2. A formal conference on public affairs; a general council; esp., an assembly of representatives of a nation or people having authority to make laws.

They made request that it might be lawful for them to summon a parliament of Gauls.

Golding.

3. The assembly of the three estates of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, viz., the lords spiritual, lords temporal, and the representatives of the commons, sitting in the House of Lords and the House of Commons, constituting the legislature, when summoned by the royal authority to consult on the affairs of the nation, and to enact and repeal laws.

Thought the sovereign is a constituting branch of Parliament, the word is generally used to denote the three estates named above.

4. In France, before the Revolution of 1789, one of the several principal judicial courts.

Parliament heel, the inclination of a ship when made to careen by shifting her cargo or ballast. -- Parliament hinge (Arch.), a hinge with so great a projection from the wall or frame as to allow a door or shutter to swing back flat against the wall. -- Long Parliament, Rump Parliament. See under Long, and Rump.

Par`lia*men"tal (?), a. Parliamentary. [Obs.]

Par`lia*men*ta"ri*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Parliament. Wood.

Par`lia*men*ta"ri*an, n. 1. (Eng. Hist.) One who adhered to the Parliament, in opposition to King Charles I. Walpole.

2. One versed in the rules and usages of Parliament or similar deliberative assemblies; as, an accomplished parliamentarian.

Par`lia*men"ta*ri*ly (?), adv. In a parliamentary manner.

Par`lia*men"ta*ry (?), a. [Cf. F. parlementaire.]

1. Of or pertaining to Parliament; as, parliamentary authority. Bacon.

2. Enacted or done by Parliament; as, a parliamentary act. Sir M. Hale.

3. According to the rules and usages of Parliament or of deliberative bodies; as, a parliamentary motion.

Parliamentary agent, a person, usually a solicitor, professionally employed by private parties to explain and recommend claims, bills, etc., under consideration of Parliament. [Eng.] -- Parliamentary train, one of the trains which, by act of Parliament, railway companies are required to run for the conveyance of third-class passengers at a reduced rate. [Eng.]

Par"lor (?), n. [OE. parlour, parlur, F. parloir, LL. parlatorium. See Parley.] [Written also parlour.] A room for business or social conversation, for the reception of guests, etc. Specifically: (a) The apartment in a monastery or nunnery where the inmates are permitted to meet and converse with each other, or with visitors and friends from without. Piers Plowman. (b) In large private houses, a sitting room for the family and for familiar guests, -- a room for less formal uses than the drawing-room. Esp., in modern times, the dining room of a house having few apartments, as a London house, where the dining parlor is usually on the ground floor. (c) Commonly, in the United States, a drawing- room, or the room where visitors are received and entertained.

"In England people who have a drawing-room no longer call it a parlor, as they called it of old and till recently." Fitzed. Hall.

Parlor car. See Palace car, under Car.

Par"lous (?), a. [For perlous, a contr. fr. perilous.] 1. Attended with peril; dangerous; as, a parlous cough. [Archaic] "A parlous snuffing." Beau. & Fl.

2. Venturesome; bold; mischievous; keen. [Obs.] "A parlous boy." Shak. "A parlous wit." Dryden. -- Par"lous*ly, adv. [Obs.] -- Par"lous*ness, n. [Obs.]

Par`me*san" (?), a. [F. parmesan, It. parmigiano.] Of or pertaining to Parma in Italy.

Parmesan cheese, a kind of cheese of a rich flavor, though from skimmed milk, made in Parma, Italy.

||Par*nas"si*a (?), n. [NL.] (Bot.) A genus of herbs growing in wet ||places, and having white flowers; grass of Parnassus.