COUNCIL Definition & Meaning

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council

[ koun-suhl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an assembly of persons summoned or convened for consultation, deliberation, or advice.
a body of persons specially designated or selected to act in an advisory, administrative, or legislative capacity:
the governor's council on housing.
(in certain British colonies or dependencies) an executive or legislative body assisting the governor.
an ecclesiastical assembly for deciding matters of doctrine or discipline.
New Testament. the Sanhedrin or other authoritative body.

council

/ ˈ�첹ʊ�Բ�ə�� /

noun

an assembly of people meeting for discussion, consultation, etc
an emergency council
a body of people elected or appointed to serve in an administrative, legislative, or advisory capacity
a student council
the council
sometimes capital the local governing authority of a town, county, etc
a meeting or the deliberation of a council
modifier of, relating to, provided for, or used by a local council
council offices
a council chamber
modifier provided by a local council, esp (of housing) at a subsidized rent
a council house
a council estate
an administrative or legislative assembly, esp the upper house of a state parliament in Australia
Christianity an assembly of bishops, theologians, and other representatives of several churches or dioceses, convened for regulating matters of doctrine or discipline

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Usage

See counsel

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Confusables Note

Council, counsel, and consul are not interchangeable. Council is a noun. Its most common sense is “an assembly of persons convened for deliberation or the like.” It is generally used with a singular verb. A member of such a group is a councilor. Counsel is both noun and verb. Its most common meaning as a noun is “advice given to another”: His counsel on domestic relations is sound. A person giving such advice is a counselor. In law, counsel means “legal adviser or advisers” and can be either singular or plural. As a verb, counsel means “to advise.” The noun consul refers to the representative of a government who guards the welfare of its citizens in a foreign country.

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Other �y��vlog Forms

��ܲ�·��ǳܲ�c�� noun

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of council¹

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English co(u)nsile, from Anglo-French cuncil ( e ), Old French concile, from Late Latin concilium “synod, church council” ( Latin: “assembly”), probably equivalent to Latin con- con- + -��(��), combining form of �� “to summon, convoke” + -ium -ium; Middle English -s- by association with Anglo-French cunseil counsel

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of council¹

C12: from Old French concile, from Latin concilium assembly, from com- together + �� to call; influenced also by Latin consilium advice, counsel

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

On Wednesday night, state humanities councils across the country had begun receiving similar letters stating that their NEH funding had been terminated, one day after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency visited NEH headquarters.

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A number of bills have risen or are due to rise in April, which include water, energy, council tax and telecoms.

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It simply did not make sense that someone like "kind, funny and normal" council worker Joanne Sharkey could have committed a crime.

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The council previously said Unite was stopping them from operating a contingency service, which would allow them to make one bin collection to every household a week.

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Two weeks after that Moreno told the team website: “Maybe we’ll get a new mayor and council that want us to stay.”

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