bicameral

[ bahy-kam-er-uhl ]

See synonyms for bicameral on Thesaurus.com

adjectiveGovernment.

having two branches, chambers, or houses, as a legislative body.

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Origin of bicameral

First recorded in 1825–35; bi-¹ + Latin camer(a) “vault, arched roof” + -al¹.See chamber

Other words from bicameral

bi·cam·er·al·ism, noun
bi·cam·er·al·ist, noun

Words Nearby bicameral

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bicameral in a sentence

Almost immediately afterward, lawmakers began calling for the creation of an independent bicameral commission to investigate the Capitol attack.
How Bennie Thompson and Liz Cheney Turned the Jan. 6 Hearings Into Must-See TV | Eric Cortellessa | July 20, 2022 | Time
Klobuchar is a co-sponsor of the Open App Markets Act, a bipartisan, bicameral bill that would do most of what Epic Games wanted.
How much control should Apple have over your iPhone? | Sara Morrison | December 8, 2021 | Vox
Though that plan was the product of bipartisan negotiation and had bipartisan, bicameral support, GOP opponents were already attacking it as partisan before blocking it for good on Friday.
A bipartisan January 6 commission is probably dead. Democrats have a backup plan. | Cameron Peters | May 29, 2021 | Vox
On his return to Japan, Onoda was feted, and briefly tipped to run for the Diet, the Japanese bicameral parliament.
The Week in Death: The Last to Surrender | The Telegraph | January 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
All too often, the march of folly has been bicameral, as well as bipartisan.
John McCain’s Middle East War Drumbeat: Iraq, Libya, and Now Syria | Lloyd Green | June 1, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST

But the non-Nebraska states have bicameral legislatures for no real reason.
Why Doesn't Every State Have a Unicameral? | Justin Green | April 4, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
At the national level, we have a bicameral legislature because of the overall workings of the federal system.
Why Doesn't Every State Have a Unicameral? | Justin Green | April 4, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
It is a bicameral legislature composed of an upper house, the Senate, and a lower house, the House of Delegates.
Hallowed Heritage: The Life of Virginia | Dorothy M. Torpey
The importance of the bicameral system is strongly insisted upon by the commentator of the Constitution.
Japan | Various
In structure it represents a curious cross between the principles of unicameral and bicameral organization.
The Governments of Europe | Frederic Austin Ogg
The legislative branch in North Dakota consists of a bicameral legislature which meets in January each odd-numbered year.
North Dakota | Various
The two houses of Parliament had made the colonists accustomed to the bicameral system.
The Colonies 1492-1750 | Reuben Gold Thwaites

British Dictionary definitions for bicameral

bicameral

/ (baɪˈkæmərəl) /

adjective

(of a legislature) consisting of two chambers

Origin of bicameral

C19: from bi- 1 + Latin camera chamber

Derived forms of bicameral

bicameralism, noun
bicameralist, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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