states general
/steɪts ˈdʒɛn(ə)ɹəl/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.19 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
13
Letters
4
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A representative assembly in the Habsburg Netherlands (until 1581) and subsequently in the Dutch Republic (until 1795), representing the three estates of clergy, nobles and commons.
name
A similar assembly in prerevolutionary France, occasionally convened by the King as a consultive body; it was first convened in 1392 and last in 1789, when its dissolution led to the Revolution.
name
The bicameral parliament of the Kingdom of the Netherlands from 1815 onwards.
Example Sentences
- "It ſhall be Lawful for his Royal Majeſty of Great-Britain, and the States-General, by common Advice, and for the Benefit and Enlargement of the Navigation and Commerce of their Subjects, to ſeize by their Forces, what Lands and Cities they can, belonging to the Spaniſh Dominions in the Indies; (…)."
- "Had the States General, early after the discovery by Hudson, directed their attention to this western field […] a basis would have been laid securing probably a long and prosperous continuance."
- "Sovereignty, it was affirmed, lay with the States General, whose bidding the Stadholder was to do as once he had done the king’s."
- "J[ohn] A[dams] was fully aware that the States General would not accept a memorial from the minister of a nation as yet unrecognized, but he nevertheless went through the motions of presenting it."
- "Early letters by the Malay rulers are addressed to the “king of Holland” whom they affectionately call their “brother”, in other words as their imagined royal counterpart. In practice such letters were received and read by the stadtholder, the States General, or both."
- "In 1789, with bankruptcy staring the government in the face, Louis XVI took the momentous decision to summon the States-General."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Staten-Generaal, etats generaux
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /steɪts ˈdʒɛn(ə)ɹəl/