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
Four of them met in the great council room of the castle.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
The two old people were very sorry at being obliged to leave us, but promised, without fail, to come to my house after the great council on Puerco River and remain some time.
From The Backwoodsman or, Life on the Indian Frontier by Various
When Alexander III. was exiled from Rome by Frederic Barbarossa and his antipope Victor, and came to France, he called, in 1163, a great council at Tours.
From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume I by Lea, Henry Charles
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.
