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unicameral

American  
[yoo-ni-kam-er-uhl] / ˌyu nɪˈkæm ər əl /

adjective

  1. consisting of a single chamber, as a legislative assembly.


unicameral British  
/ ˌjuːnɪˈkæmərəl /

adjective

  1. of or characterized by a single legislative chamber

"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

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of unicameral

1850–55; uni- + Latin camer ( a ) chamber + -al 1

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Explanation

Use the adjective unicameral to describe a government with only one legislative house or chamber. The Parliament of Finland, for example, is unicameral. Some governments are split into two houses — these are called bicameral legislatures. When there is only one house, usually because the government is small or the country is homogeneous, it's called unicameral. Having a unicameral government is simpler and more straightforward, while a bicameral legislature can represent more diverse groups. The word unicameral has two Latin roots, uni, which means "one," and camera, "chamber."

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Vocabulary lists containing unicameral

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.

As we said before, we don’t need the other 92 counties’ help to sort out our own Unicameral race, thank you very much.

From Washington Times • Oct. 29, 2018

Do Nebraskans outside a Unicameral committee chair’s home district have an interest in what happens to that senator?

From Washington Times • Oct. 29, 2018

Last year, the Nebraska Unicameral reduced the requirements for several jobs, from car salesmen to hair braiders.

From Washington Times • Mar. 26, 2018

I asked Waite about Legislative Bill 720, proposed for this session in the Unicameral by Sen. John Kuehn, which would make “the unauthorized capture of images by unmanned aerial vehicles a trespassing offense.”

From Washington Times • Feb. 1, 2016

Unicameral, ū-ni-kam′e-ral, adj. consisting of but one chamber, of a legislative body.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

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