From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Legislature \Leg"is*la'ture\ (l[e^]j"[i^]s*l[=a]'t[-u]r; 135), n. [Cf. F. l['e]gislature.] The body of persons in a state or kingdom invested with power to make and repeal laws; a legislative body.
Without the concurrent consent of all three parts of the legislature, no law is, or can be, made. --Sir M. Hale.
Note: The legislature of Great Britain consists of the Lords and Commons, with the king or queen, whose sanction is necessary to every bill before it becomes a law. The legislatures of most of the United States consist of two houses or branches; but the sanction or consent of the governor is required to give their acts the force of law, or a concurrence of two thirds of the two houses after he has refused his sanction and assigned his objections.
Note: The legislatures of some of the more important states having constitutional government are as follows, the general name (or a translation of it) of the legislative body collectively being given under the heading legislature, or parliament: StateLegislature, or parliamentUpper House[colret]NameNumber of members -- how chosen or composed -- term of officeLower House[colret]NameNumber of members -- suffrage -- term of office
----------------------------------------------------------------- ArgentinaNational CongressSenate30 -- 2 from each provincew and 2 from capital -- 9 yearsHouse of Deputies120 (1 to 33,000) -- Manhood -- 4 years AustriaReichsrath BelgiumThe Chambers BrazilNational Congress ChileNational Congress DenmarkRigsdag FranceNational Assembly German EmpireImperial legislature *Great BritainParliamentHouse of LordsAbout 600House of CommonsAbout 670 -- 7 years, or until dissolution Greece HungaryOrz['a]g-gy["u]l['e]s ItalyParliament JapanImperial Diet MexicoCongress NetherlandsStates-General #NorwayStorthing PortugalCortes Geraes (general Assembly) PrussiaLandtagHerrenhausNo limit -- very various classes -- For different termsAbgeordnetenhaus433 -- Indirect election, general suffrage[sect] -- 5 years, or until dissolution SpainCortes SwedenDiet SwitzerlandBundesversammlung United StatesCongressSenate92(1908) -- 6 yearsHouse of Representatives391 (1908) -- 2 years. ---------------------------------------------------------------- *In the self-governing colonies of Great Britain the legislative body usually consists of two chambers, the names of the legislature and the chambers varying. Thus in Australia the Federal Parliament is composed of the Senate and the House of Commons, in New Zealand the General Assembly is composed of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives, etc. #Members of the Storthing are chosen for three years by direct election by manhood suffrage, forty-one being elected from the towns and eighty-two from the rural districts. The Storthing on assembling divides into the Lagthing including one fourth and the Odelsthing including three fourths of the total membership of the Storthing. All new laws are laid first before the Odelsthing. If the two houses do not agree they vote in joint session, a majority of two thirds of those voting being necessary to a decision. [sect] While theoretically general, the suffrage is so classified as often practically to disfranchise those who are not property holders. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: persons who make or amend or repeal laws [syn: {legislative assembly}, {general assembly}, {law-makers}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
50 Moby Thesaurus words for "legislature": British Cabinet, Sanhedrin, US Cabinet, act, advisory body, assembly, association, bench, board, body of advisers, borough council, brain trust, cabinet, camarilla, chamber, city council, common council, concurrent resolution, conference, congress, constitution, consultative assembly, council, council fire, council of ministers, council of state, council of war, county council, court, deliberative assembly, diet, directory, divan, enaction, enactment, joint resolution, junta, kitchen cabinet, lawmaking, legislation, parish council, passage, passing, privy council, resolution, soviet, staff, syndicate, synod, tribunal
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