Webster's English Dictionary

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senate

sen.ate \'sen-*t\ n [ME senat, fr. OF, fr. L senatus, lit., council of 
   elders, fr. s]en-, senex old, old man - more at SENIOR 1: an assembly or 
   council usu. possessing high deliberative and legislative  functions : as 
   1a: the supreme council of the ancient Roman republic and empire  1b: the 
   second chamber in the bicameral legislature of a major political un it (as 
   a nation, state, or province) 2: the hall or chamber in which a senate 
   meets  3: a governing body of some universities charged with maintaining 
   academic  standards and regulations and usu. composed of the principal or 
   representative members of the faculty