legislator
Americannoun
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a person concerned with the making or enactment of laws
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a member of a legislature
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of legislator
1595–1605; < Latin phrase lēgis lātor a law's bringer (i.e., proposer), equivalent to lēgis (genitive of lēx law) + lātor bringer ( lā ( tus ), suppletive past participle of ferre to bring + -tor -tor
Explanation
A legislator makes laws. Congress is full of legislators. You have several who represent you at both the state and national level. Don't confuse a legislator with the legislature. Whereas the latter refers to the group such as the Congress, a legislator is a member of the group. At the national level, senators and representatives are given the task of writing our laws. States sometimes have different names for their two legislative houses, but the set-up is similar. The United States may be the world's oldest democracy, but legislators have been around nearly forever — the Romans had them.
Vocabulary lists containing legislator
Commonly Confused Words, List 3
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Commonly Confused Words, List 5
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The Executive Branch: The Presidency and Vice Presidency
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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.
See Examples For:
The final vote came on Monday on a consent calendar, the place for matters considered so routine that no legislator even wishes to discuss them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Douglass may not have held a role as a judge, legislator, or even enfranchised citizen, yet he nonetheless played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s understanding of equal citizenship in the Civil War era.
From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026
They are working with a state legislator on a bill that would require 40 minutes of recess in elementary school, which Talbert said they thought was more likely to pass.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
If a legislator is visiting for an inspection, they are now required to present privacy waivers for each detainee they want to speak with, which must be signed by the detainee.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Stephen Clark, the legislator who brought the bill to ban texting to the Utah House, eventually was honored by being named an LDS mission president in Missouri.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Mythos also showed the ability to independently escape what is known as the sandbox environment, setting off a debate among regulators, legislators and businesses about AI's potential dangers.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
A similar dynamic is playing out across the country, as legislators or governors in more than 10 states, including Illinois, New Jersey and Washington, have slammed the brakes on the tax breaks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
It’s up to legislators to solve problems in a way that serves society’s interests, including protecting both our children and American innovation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
In the meantime, however, legislators and those with the power to influence change need to do better about bringing young Americans into the fold when deciding the fate of the program, he said.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026
The booster club geared up a letter-writing campaign to him, state legislators, and the governor.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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.
