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Mother of Parliaments

British  

noun

  1. the British Parliament: the model and creator of many other Parliaments

"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

Etymology

Origin of Mother of Parliaments

C19: first used of England in 1865 by John Bright (1811–89), British Liberal statesman

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:

Nor are stable and effective minority governments unknown in Commonwealth countries that can trace their parliamentary and governance systems back to "the Mother of Parliaments" in Westminster.

From BBC Apr. 28, 2015

This reverence for heritage is amplified by that often mis-applied phrase, The Mother of Parliaments.

From BBC Mar. 29, 2015

The Mother of Parliaments, majestic but not stuffy, had one of her stormiest, most boisterous weeks in recent history.

From Time Magazine Archive

For 400 years, while Britain spread its empire round the world, admission to the Mother of Parliaments was confined to inhabitants of the British Isles.

From Time Magazine Archive

It must be glorious to be a Member of the Mother of Parliaments, to be a legislator in this great free country.

From The Everlasting Arms by Hocking, Joseph

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