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• senate
  senate

  noun

  an assembly or council of citizens having the highest deliberative functions in a government, especially a legislative assembly of a state or nation.
• Senate
  Senate

  noun

  the upper chamber of the legislatures of the US, Canada, Australia, and many other countries

senate

American  

[sen-it] / ˈsɛn ɪt /

noun

• senates
  plural

1. an assembly or council of citizens having the highest deliberative functions in a government, especially a legislative assembly of a state or nation.

2. (initial capital letter) the upper house of the legislature of certain countries, as the United States, France, Italy, Canada, Ireland, Republic of South Africa, Australia, and some Latin American countries.

3. the room or building in which such a group meets.

4. Roman History. the supreme council of state, the membership and functions of which varied at different periods.

5. a governing, advisory, or disciplinary body, as in certain universities.

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Senate ¹ British  

/ ˈsɛnɪt /

noun

1. the upper chamber of the legislatures of the US, Canada, Australia, and many other countries

2. the legislative council of ancient Rome. Originally the council of the kings, the Senate became the highest legislative, judicial, and religious authority in republican Rome

3. the ruling body of certain free cities in medieval and modern Europe

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senate ² British  

/ ˈsɛnɪt /

noun

1. any legislative or governing body considered to resemble a Senate

2. the main governing body at some colleges and universities

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• senates
  plural

Etymology

Origin of senate

1175–1225; Middle English senat < Latin senātus council of elders, equivalent to sen ( ex ) old + -ātus -ate ³

Explanation

When a government is split into two houses, or assemblies, one of them — the "upper house" — is called a senate. The main job of most senates is to take a second look at legislation after it's been passed by the lower house. The idea of a senate as a legislative assembly goes back to the founding of Rome, around 750 B.C.E., with the word taken from the Latin senatus, meaning "highest council." That word, then, is thought to come from senex, meaning "old man," in this case probably meant as a form of respect for wisdom. The word later grew to include national government, and the United States took the word in 1775 to refer to the upper level of the legislature. Today, you can get elected to a senate even if you're not an old man.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

senate Senate senates

Sarwar previously said he would not take a peerage, and both he and Andy Burnham have expressed support for replacing the Lords with a senate of the nations and regions.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

The senate said it will convene a work group to meet over the next year to look at the issue.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

It also happens to include more Arab and Muslim Americans in one senate district than we’ve ever seen before.

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

Talks between Ottawa and Washington “are pretty firmly stuck,” said Steve Verheul, the former chief Canadian trade negotiator, in testimony last week before the country’s senate.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026

“William’s running for the local senate, Hilly. And he might not win.”

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

During a recent Senate Finance Committee hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said she and Sen. Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, were calling on Congress to “scrap the cap” on payroll taxes.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

To Carville’s credit, he’s said that he would support Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive who won Michigan’s Democratic primary for Senate, because his Republican opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers, is a “clown.”

From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026

Senate to state Rep. James Talarico in March, quickly endorsed him.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh in July said during a Senate hearing that measures like the CPI and producer-price index are “imperfect measures of the state of underlying inflation.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

The Vatican, unable to burn Sarpi, burned Sarpi’s books instead; the Venetian Senate promptly doubled his salary.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

Since news of the deal broke, he said he has met with the system chancellors, provosts, program directors and faculty senates about the acquisition.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 31, 2023

But the school’s faculty and student senates each passed resolutions calling for a change and the university’s alumni board of directors supported reassessing the team name’s appropriateness.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2021

State senates range in size from twenty members in Alaska to sixty-seven members in Minnesota.

From Textbooks ● Jul. 28, 2021

The animosity has spread to the 50 statehouses and the 7,382 people who serve in the houses and senates there.

From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2012

Alas! that a more lasting page than mine must record, that the cry of the oppressed often came up before British senates, ere they would deign to hear!

From Discipline by Mary Brunton

Related Words

• body
• chamber
• house
• parliament