great council
Americannoun
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(in Norman England) an assembly composed of the king's tenants in chief that served as the principal council of the realm and replaced the witenagemot.
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(formerly in Italy) the municipal council in some towns or cities, as in Venice.
noun
Etymology
Origin of great council
First recorded in 1730–40
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said recently he wanted to expose the "great council cash-cow cover-up" over parking.
From BBC ● Jan. 4, 2013
In medieval times, whether in the great council of the church or in secular parliament, the assent of everybody was esteemed as the ideal.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Four of them met in the great council room of the castle.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
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Goodyear, however, obtained the great council medal at the London Exhibition of 1851, a grand medal at Paris, in 1855, and later the ribbon of the Legion of Honor.
From Inventors by Philip Gengembre Hubert
This tax, called the Saladine tenth, was granted the king by a great council, and the property both of clerks and laymen was assessed by a jury.
From The English Church in the Middle Ages by William Hunt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.