council
nounverbcommon in dialogue
- //ˈkaʊn.səl//
- //ˈkuːn.səl//
A committee that leads or governs (e.g. city council, student council).
noun
- 1
A committee that leads or governs (e.g. city council, student council).
He turned back to the scene before him and the enormous new block of council dwellings. The design was some way after Corbusier but the block was built up on plinths and resembled an Atlantic liner swimming diagonally across the site.
The comments were made at a council meeting last month, during which one councillor questioned whether changing the names would be pushing reconciliation efforts along too quickly. […] At a city council meeting on Oct. 8, Campbell River councillors discussed a letter sent by the B.C. Geographical Names Office inviting comments on the name changes.
- 2
A committee that leads or governs (e.g. city council, student council). A local authority.
- 3
Discussion or deliberation.
Satan […] void of rest, / His potentates to council called by night;
O great in action and in council wise.
- 4
Variant of church councilShort for church council
the First Council of Nicaea
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English counseil (“meeting, conference, commune”), from Old French conseil (“advice, deliberation, thought”), from Latin cōnsilium (“plan, intention, design, purpose”), from cōnsulō (“consult, seek counsel from, take counsel from, deliberate, reflect”), from Proto-Indo-European *selh₁- (“take, grab”).
verb
- 1
To sit in council with; to hold discussions with.
Forms
- plural
- councils
- past tense
- counciled, councilled
- past participle
- counciled, councilled
- present participle
- counciling, councilling
- third person singular
- councils
council · A committee that leads or governs (e.g. city council, student council).
Council · A surname.councillor · A member of a council.Councillor · The title for someone elected to the role of councillor in a…