Council Meaning
/ˈkaʊn.səl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA committee that leads or governs (e.g. city council, student council).
nounA committee that leads or governs (e.g. city council, student council)., A local authority.
Sentence Examples
The environment was the focus of student council activities.
The revolutionary council met to plan strategy.
The council is responsible for waste disposal and street cleaning.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The city ____ met Tuesday to discuss the new zoning regulations for downtown.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The environment was the focus of student ____ activities.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English counseil, from Old French conseil, from late Latin cōnsilium; with the spelling in -c- adopted after Latin concilium in Early Modern English, though some senses of counseil were influenced by Old French concile, a semi-learned borrowing from concilium. Doublet of concelho and counsel.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"He turned back to the scene before him and the enormous new block of council dwellings. The design was some way after Corbusier but the block was built up on plinths and resembled an Atlantic liner swimming diagonally across the site."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
"The comments were made at a council meeting last month, during which one councillor questioned whether changing the names would be pushing reconciliation efforts along too quickly. […] At a city council meeting on Oct. 8, Campbell River councillors discussed a letter sent by the B.C. Geographical Names Office inviting comments on the name changes."
— 2024 November 2, Maryse Zeidler, “Hereditary chiefs slam Vancouver Island city council for remarks on restoring Indigenous place names”, in CBC News:
"Satan […] void of rest, / His potentates to council called by night;"
— 2008 [1667], John Milton, chapter 6, in W. Kerrigan, J. Rumrich, S. Fallon, editors, Paradise Lost (Modern Library Classics) (poetry), Random House Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 212, lines 414–416:
"O great in action and in council wise."
— 1715–1720, Homer, translated by Alexander Pope, “Book IV”, in The Iliad of Homer, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The city ____ met Tuesday to discuss the new zoning regulations for downtown.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The environment was the focus of student ____ activities.