House of Commons
15
3.5
- proper noun
- UK
- My Lords and members of the House of Commons.
- House of Commons
- House of Commons voted
- House of Commons in Parliament
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Watch on YouTubeAnd he's also a candidate for the House of Commons for the Socialist Alliance.
- And he's also a candidate for the House of Commons for the Socialist Alliance.
Examples
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Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary William Hague told the House of Commons that the blockade of Gaza was "unacceptable and unsustainable."
Academic text (2010) -
The constitution of our country vests the right of electing members of the House of Commons in the people.
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I work in the House of Commons.
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Until third reading, the bill cannot be considered to have been passed by the House of Commons.
Academic text (2000) -
Your father made terrific speeches in the House of Commons.
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The Trustees brought this issue before the House of Commons, which voted almost unanimously to end the ban.
Academic text (2010) -
In the House of Commons today, the new Marine Offenses Act was passed unanimously.
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Martha Louise Black and Audrey McLaughlin were elected to the House of Commons.
Fiction book (1993) -
Irish politician John Dillon, a senior figure in the Home Rule Party, delivers an angry speech in the House of Commons that provokes shock and outrage.
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In the House of Commons, legislators debated the new education bill that aims to improve school funding.
Synonyms
∞
7.2
An official group of elected people who make laws
2
5.4
A group of elected people who make and change laws for a country or region
1
3.6
The elected part of the United Kingdom Parliament that makes and approves laws
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositional: 'house' as an assembly/building combined with 'commons' meaning 'the common people' yields 'the assembly of the common people', which readily maps onto a parliamentary chamber. This construction (house of X → legislative body) is cross-linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the MWE refers to a parliamentary house.
Etymology
House of Commons comes from old times when the commons, or 'common people', met in a simple house to speak for local towns and villages. This image of ordinary people meeting in a plain room explains why today it means the elected lower chamber that represents the public.