parly

Verb

parley (third-person singular simple present parleys, present participle parleying, simple past and past participle parleyed)

1. (intransitive) To have a discussion, especially one between enemies.
   • [...] at day break we found the villaine, who, loath to parlee in fire and ſhot, fled amaine and left us [...]1638, Sir Thomas Herbert, Some years travels into divers parts of Asia and Afrique

   Synonyms:

   chat, discourse, moot, common, confab, confabulate, conversate, converse, convo, jaw

See all 3 meanings of parley

Noun

parliament (countable and uncountable, plural parliaments)

1. (historical) A formal council summoned (especially by a monarch) to discuss important issues.
   • By the 13th Century, a parliament was when kings met up with English barons to raise cash for fighting wars - mostly against Scotland.2014, “A brief history of the UK Parliament”, in BBC News
2. In many countries, the legislative branch of government, a deliberative assembly or set of assemblies whose elected or appointed members meet to debate the major political issues of the day, make, amend, and repeal laws, authorize the executive branch of government to collect and spend money, and in some cases exercise judicial powers; a legislature.
   • The row started over who will run for parliament in a wealthy rightwing constituency on the left bank in Paris, a safe seat for Sarkozy's ruling UMP.2011 December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, “Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 19 Apr 2016
3. A particular assembly of the members of such a legislature, as convened for a specific purpose or period of time (commonly designated with an ordinal number – for example, first parliament or 12th parliament – or a descriptive adjective – for example, Long Parliament, Short Parliament and Rump Parliament).
   • Following the general election, Jane Doe took her oath of office as a member of the nation's fifth parliament.
4. (collective) A gathering of birds, especially rooks or owls.
   • "The people at home call it a rook's parliament when a whole crowd of rooks settle on some bare, wide common, and sit there as if they were consulting, not feeding, only stalking about with drooping wings, and solemn black cloaks."1866, [Charlotte Mary Yonge], chapter III, in The Heir of Redclyffe […] In Two Volumes, volume I, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, 443 & 445 Broadway, →OCLC, page 32
5. (historical) Parliament cake, a type of gingerbread.
   • He […] was disposed to spoil little Georgy, sadly gorging the boy with apples and parliament, to the detriment of his health—until Amelia declared that George should never go out with his grandpapa unless the latter promised solemnly, and on his honour, not to give the child any cakes, lollipops...1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC
6. (UK) a length of time for which a parliament is summoned, in modern times therefore the period between two consecutive elections.
   • This parliament has been more scandal-filled than any other in history.