council

council, n.
  (ˈkaʊnsɪl)
  Forms: 2 (concilium), concilie, 3 conceil, 4–6 counceil, 5 -ceyl(l, 5– -cell, 6 concille, cowncell(e, 6–7 councel, 6–8 councill, 6– council. Also (esp. in senses 4–) 3–5 conseil, 4 cunsile, consile, consail, (-aile, -aille, 4–5 consale, -sell), counseil, (-seile, -sile), 4–6 counsail, -sayl, 4–7 counseill, -saile, 5 conseille, counseille, -seyl, -le, -ll, cownsell, 5–6 conseyl(l, 5–7 counsell, -sall, cownsele, -ell(e, 6 cunsel, counsaille, -sayle, -sayll, 6–7 -sale, 6–8 counsel.
  [In Branch I, repr. OF. cuncile, ONF. concilie, = L. concilium (f. con- together + cal- to call) a convocation, assembly, meeting, union, connexion, close conjunction; sometimes an assembly for consultation, in which sense it became confused with consilium an advisory body (though the confusion was perh. in most cases due to later scribes of MSS.). In mediæval times concilium was mainly appropriated to the assemblies convoked to settle points of doctrine and discipline in the Church, or the relations between Church and State in particular countries,—the Councils. An early L.-Gr. Gloss. in Du Cange has Concilium, συνέδριον, συµβούλιον, σύνοδος; and an ancient Codex of the Canons quoted by him has ‘Synodum autem ex Græco interpretari Comitatum, vel Cœtum; Concilii autem nomen tractum ex more Romano’. In OF. consilium came down as a living word in the form conseil, while concile (concire) was used for the ecclesiastical concilium, which sense it still exclusively retains. In English, the two words were, from the beginning, completely confused: conseil was frequently spelt conceil; concile was spelt consile and conceil; and the two words were treated as one, under a variety of forms, of which counseil, later counsel, was the central type. In the 16th c. differentiation again began: councel, later council, was established for the ecclesiastical concilium, F. concile; and this spelling has been extended to all cases in which the word means a deliberative assembly or advisory body (where L. has consilium, Fr. conseil), leaving counsel to the action of counselling and kindred senses. The practical distinction thus established between council and counsel does not correspond to Latin or French usage.]
  I. * Uses derived from L. concilium.
  † 1. generally. An assembly called together for any purpose; a convocation or congregation. Obs.
  In the simple sense found only at an early date, and passing imperceptibly into the sense of ‘deliberative assembly’ (4).

a 1300 Cursor M. 16076 (Cott.) Vp þar stert tua panteners in middes þat consile. c 1340 E.E. Psalter (E.E.T.S.) xxxix. [xl] 14 Ich ne hidde nouȝt þy mercy and þy soþenes fram þe michel conseil [Vulg. a concilio multo] of þe vntrew. c 1400 [see 4].

  2. spec. An assembly of ecclesiastics (with or without laymen) convened for the regulation of doctrine or discipline in the church, or, in earlier times, of settling points in dispute between the ecclesiastical and civil powers. [The only sense of F. concile.]
  Variously qualified according to its sphere, as œcumenical, general, national, patriarchal, primatial, provincial, diocesan (this = synod). Without qualification, usually applied to general councils, i.e. those called together by an invitation to the church at large, and claiming to speak in the name of the whole church, whether ultimately accepted as doing so (œcumenical) or not. In early times general council was used less definitely, e.g. for a national or provincial council. In the Middle Ages there were also mixed councils, which met to settle both spiritual and civil affairs.

α [a 1123 O.E. Chron. an. 1119 Se [Pope Calixtus II] syððan..com into France to Ræins and þær heold concilium.] 1125 Ibid., Cardinal Johan of Creme..heold his concilie on Lundene..mid ærce biscopes and mid leod biscopes and abbotes and læred and lawed. 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 495 This bissopes..& abbodes al so, A conceil made general. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxlix. 318 In this same tyme was the counseyll of Basyll to whiche counceyll pope Eugenye was cyted to come. 1643 Westm. Confess. Faith p. xxxi, All synods and councils since the Apostles' times, whether general or particular, may err, and many have erred. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 38 Condemn'd in the generall Councels. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. III. 19 To profess the doctrine of the council of Nice. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. x. 459 Two synods held at Rome..one of them the second Lateran Council. 1885 Catholic Dict. 230 At the Vatican Council the members were arranged in accordance with their hierarchical rank.

β c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 503 Þis counseil of freris at London. 1450–1530 Myrr. Our Ladye 37 By holy sayntes and popes and generall conseylles. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 192 b, In the Crede of Nycene counsyle. 1552 Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 1 His provincial counsale haldin at Edinburgh. Ibid. 5 The decisiouns and determinatiouns of general counsallis. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 11 A generall counsaile of the Bishops, and Clergie of the Realme at Oxford. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 67 There was no Appeale, but vnto a generall Counsell.

  3. In the New Testament, regularly used to render Gr. συνέδριον, Vulg. concilium, chiefly in reference to the Jewish Sanhedrim, or a meeting of that body.
  [In the MSS. and printed texts of the Vulgate, concilium and consilium are often confused; in Acts xxv. 12 the Clementine text has concilio, followed by the English versions, including 1611 and 1881, with council; but the oldest MSS. have consilio, the proper rendering of συµβουλίου. The Anglo-Saxon Gospels usually represent concilium by ᵹemót, but they, as well as the versions of the Psalter, have sometimes ᵹeþeaht, ‘counsel, advice’, implying that the translator had consilium before him in the Latin, e.g. in Mark xiv. 55 (where consilium is actually the reading of important MSS. written in Ireland and England). In Matt. xii. 14, συµβούλιον ἔλαβον, is rendered in the Vulgate consilium faciebant, for which Tindale, Cranmer, and version of 1611 have ‘helde a counsell’; current editions of 1611 have ‘held a council’, 1881, correctly, ‘took counsel’.]

1382 Wyclif Acts v. 21 They clepiden togidere the counceil [1388 counsel, Tind., Cranm. counsell, Genev. Council, Rhem. Councel, 1611 Councill]. 1611 Bible Mark xiv. 55 The chiefe Priests, and all the counsell [Wycl. counceil, Tind., Cranm. counsell, Genev. Council, Rhem. councel, mod. edd. of 1611 & R.V. council] sought for witnesse against Iesus. ― John xi. 47 Then gathered y⊇ chiefe Priests and the Pharises a councel [v. rr. as in last]. 1638 Penit. Conf. viii. (1657) 273 The unclean person was condemned by the Sanedrim or Council.

  II. Uses derived from L. consilium, F. conseil.
  ** An advisory or deliberative assembly.
  4. An assembly or meeting for consultation or advice, as a family council, a council of physicians; a deliberative assembly.

α c 1275 [see in b]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1703 Then he somond all þe Cite..To a counsell to come for a cause hegh. c 1450 Merlin i. 2 In this maner the fendes helden a gret conseill, and seide, etc. 1651 Hobbes Govt. & Soc. v. §6. 79 The gathering together of many men who deliberate of what is to be done, or not to be done, for the common good..is that which I call a Counsell.

β 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 16 Thenne the bourgoynons helden a counceyl. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iii. ii. 78 But by the holy Rood, I doe not like these seuerall Councels. 1726 Adv. Capt. R. Boyle 172, I call'd a Council, to know what Course we should steer next. 1823 J. D. Hunter Mem. Captivity 25 Till their fate is finally determined in a general council of the victorious warriors. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. xi. 356 No legislative act turned the witena⁓gemot into a feudal council, and..the feudal council into a parliament.

  b. Great Council (in Eng. Hist.): sometimes applied to a Witena gemót or assembly of the witan, under the Anglo-Saxon kings; more frequently to the assemblies under the Norman kings of tenants-in-chief and great ecclesiastics, out of which the House of Lords originated, and to occasional general assemblies of the barons or peers in later times. Also used of similar national assemblies of other countries, as the Cortes of Spain or Portugal.
  The last Great Council in England was that summoned by Charles I at York in 1640, after the practice had been long disused. The name, though proper to the assembly, is sometimes given to its constituents as a permanent body: cf. sense 6. So General Council or National Council.

α c 1275 Lay. 2324 Þe men to gaderes eode an [h]eolde conseil grete [c 1205 muchel husting] þe hehteste of þan londe. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iii. 16 At his awtier þei holden here grete conseilles and here assembleez. 1456 Paston Lett. No. 285 I. 392 Th' Erle of Sar' [Salisbury] in London..at begynyng this day of the grete Counsail. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxvi. 274 Ther was a great counsell in Englande, on the orderyng of the realme, and specially on the kynges chyldren.

β 1425 Sc. Acts Jas. I (1597) §52 Prelates, Erles, Barronnes and free halders of the King within the Realme..ar halden to giue presence in the Kingis Parliament, and Generall councell. 1640 in Hardwicke State Pap. (1778) 208 In the Great Council of the Peers at York, Tuesday 25th September 1640. 1640 Sir T. Roe in Ibid. 169 A grand council not called these three hundred yeare. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. ii. §95 A new convention..(that..had not been practised in some hundreds of years) was thought of, to call a Great Council of all the Peers of England to meet and attend his majesty at York. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. I. xi. 356 The witena⁓gemot..now [Norman Period] subsisting under the title of the great court or council, forms a second circle round the sovereign. Under the Conqueror this assembly retained very much of its earlier character..It was however rather a court than an organized council. 1876 S. R. Gardiner Puritan Rev. (1880) 110 The king had already [1640] called round him, after an obsolete precedent, a Great Council of Peers.

  c. Cabinet Council: see cabinet n. 8, 8 b.

1679–1726 [see cabinet n. 8 b]. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xv. 188 The plans of government are discussed and determined in a cabinet council.

  d. See also council of war 14 a, Common Council 15 c.
  5. Phrases. at council, in council, to council, from council: i.e. the deliberative assembly, the council-chamber, and thence the consultation or deliberation that takes place there. (Cf. at church, school, etc.)

α [a 1300 Cursor M. 10696 (Cott.) Here-of in consail suld þai spek.] 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 95 Þe king com from Counseyl [v.r. counseil, -ceil, -seyle, conseil, B. conseille, C. consail], and cleped aftur Mede. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 363 The Pope..dide calle than to counsaile Alle the Senatoures of Rome. c 1450 Merlin ii. 28 Than wente the clerkes to counsell. 1539 Taverner Erasm. Prov. (1552) 13 Come not to counsayle afore thou be called. a 1631 Donne Poems (1650) 81 You may at Revels, you at counsaile, sit.

β 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. (1843) 27/2 The qualities and qualifications of the several persons in authority in court and council. 1671 Milton P.R. i. 40 But in mid air To Councel summons all his mighty Peers. 1721 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 50 The duke..sat all night..in Council with his privy councillors. 1821 Byron Mar. Fal. i. i, The Signory is deep in council. 1868 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) II. 15 Great alike in battle and in council.

  *** A body of counsellors (or councillors).
  6. A body of men chosen or designated as permanent advisers on matters of state, esp. to advise and assist a sovereign or ruler in the administration of the government. In Eng. Hist. chiefly applied to the King's Privy Council (q.v.), in which sense it is still used in the Committee of Council on Education, and for the Channel Islands; also in Orders in Council.

α [1292 Britton i. Prol. 2 Par le assent de nos Countes et Barouns et autres de noster conseyl.] 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 77 Þo þe conseil of Rome y leuede ys faire bi hest. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 480 His consell he assemblit then. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 514 Neiþer þe kyng ne his counsayl deede unriȝtfully. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxv. 115 He schall schew it to þe emperour, or to his counsail. 1546 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 97 The lorde chaunsler with the dewke of Norfoke and other of the cownsell. 1611 Cotgr., s.v. Conseil The principall Secretaries who euer attend his Maiestie in this Counsell.

β 1535 Coverdale Dan. iii. 24 Then Nabuchodonosor..spake vnto his councel and sayde. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. i. i. 35 The Councell shall heare it, it is a Riot. 1652 Milton in Marvell's Corr. Wks. 1872–5 II. 9 If..the Councell shall think that I need any assistance. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 222 The principal council belonging to the king is his privy council, which is generally called, by way of eminence, the council. 1785 (title) Report of the Lords of the Committee of Council..upon the Two Questions referred to them by his Majesty's Order in Council of the 14th of January last. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. iii. 112 The King and his Witan acted together..they were his own council. 1892 (title) Annual Report of the Committee of Council on Education.

  b. In this sense Council of State was also used, as it is still in speaking of France (= Conseil d' {Eacu}tat) and other foreign countries.

α 1611 Cotgr., Conseil des affaires, The Counsell of State; the Priuie Councell; held ordinarily in the Kings closet.

β 1654 Cokaine Dianea i. 55 His Father..who was the chiefe of his [the King's] Councell of State. 1670 R. Coke Disc. Trade 2 Who are the Council of State in England? They are those Persons with whom the King pleases to Advise and Consult in State Affairs. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 7 ¶18 The Emperor hath lately added 20 new Members to his Council of State. 1825 A. Caldcleugh Trav. S. Amer. I. iv. 96 (Brazil), An absolute hereditary monarchy, with a council of state, secretaries and boards for the administration of the treasury, war, and home departments.

  † c. Also in other obs. titles, as Secret Council (in Scotl.), Council of Trade, etc.

1633 Sc. Acts Chas. I Act 5 It shall bee lawfull to him to have recourse to the Lords of secret Councell. 1670 R. Coke Disc. Trade 66 To have a constant Council of Trade established by Act of Parliament. 1783 Gentl. Mag. LIII. ii. 287 In ancient times, the sovereign frequently directed the principal manufacturing towns to send representatives to the Council of Trade.

  7. Sc. Hist. The Scottish Privy Council, the members of which, called Lords of Council, sat for judicial business during the vacation of Parliament; also the Daily Council, a body having civil jurisdiction, created by Act Jas. IV, 1503, c. 58.
  In 1532, the functions of the latter body, together with those of the ‘Session of James I’ (Act 1425, c. 65), and the judicial functions of the Lords Auditors of Parliament (instituted 1368–9) were combined in the College of Justice, also called Court of Session, then created. To the ordinary judges of this court, called in the Act of 1532 Lords of Session, the King exercised (till 1723) the right to conjoin three or four ‘vther Lordes’ from the members of his Council. Hence the judges of the court are styled Lords of Council and Session, and its records the Books of Council and Session.

1471 Sc. Acts Jas. III (1597) §49 Quhair ony partie followis ony action before the Lordes of Councell. 1489 ― Jas. IV, §12 That the said councel now chosen in this present Parliament be sworne in the Kingis presence and his three Estaites. 1503 ― Jas. IV, §58 That there be ane councel chosen be the Kings Hienesse, quhilk sall sit continually in Edinburgh..to decide all maner of Summoundes in civill maters, complaintes, and causes dailie..And sall haue the samin power, as the Lordes of Session. 1540 ― Jas. V, §78 Of the admission of Notars, be the Lordes of Session..It is statute and ordained that all Schireffes..present their Clerkes and Notars in presence of my Lorde Chancellar, Presidente, and Lords of Councell, to be examined, sworne, and admitted. 1593 ― Jas. VI, §191 The Lordes of Councell and session, sall na-waies graunt onie suspension or relaxation fra the horne. 1698 Sir J. Nisbet (title), Some Doubts and Questions on the Law, especially of Scotland; as also some Decisions of the Lords of Council and Session. 1861 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. s.v., The Judges or Senators of the College of Justice are also called Lords of Council and Session. The ‘Books of Council and Session’ is the name given to the records in which deeds, and other writs competent to be inserted in the record of that court, are registered.

  8. In Crown colonies and dependencies of Great Britain, a body assisting the governor in an executive or legislative capacity, or in both. This survives in some of the United States, as Massachusetts and Maine, in the advisory body called the Governor's Council.

[1606 in Capt. Smith's Wks. (Arb.) Introd. 33 Us whom it hath pleased the King's Majesty to appoint of the Counsel for the intended voyage to Virginia. 1607 Ibid. 54 Captaine Smyth was this Day sworne one of the Counsell, who was elected in England.] 1683 Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 57 Journal of the Councell of the Province of Pensilvania. 1774 T. Hutchinson in P. O. Hutchinson Diary & Lett. (1883) I. 137 The House directed the Secretary of the Province [of Massachusetts Bay] to deliver to me a paper addressed to the Governor and Council. 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 347/1 Malta is a crown colony, and the local government is conducted by a governor, who, in legislative matters, is assisted by a council of six persons nominated by the crown. 1857 Ld. Canning in J. B. Norton Topics (1858) 74 The Governor-General in Council is sorry to see, etc. 1889 Whitaker's Almanack 433 Hong Kong..a Crown colony..administered by a Governor, aided by an Executive Council of six members, together with a Legislative Council of twelve members.

  9. In reference to foreign countries: The name of various deliberative and administrative bodies:
  e.g. Council of Ancients or Elders, C. of Five Hundred, the two branches of the French Legislative Body, under the Directory, 1795–99; C. of Conscience, in France, Spain, etc., a council in which the king, with his confessor, and certain other persons, decided matters of religious or ecclesiastical incidence; C. of Ten, a secret tribunal of the Venetian Republic from 1310–1797; Governor's Council (see 8). See also the quots.

1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 239 [In Spain] matters..are handled in severall Councels, and they are seven in number, besides the Privie Councell..The Councell of Spaine, of the Indies, of Italy, of the Low-Countries, of Warre, of the Order of Saint John, and of the Inquisition. Ibid. 358 The Venetian hath two maine advantages above all other Princes: The one is, that they have a councell that is immortall. Ibid. 524 In this Councell called Divan (where audience is open to every suter) they [Turks] consult of Embassies..of matters of State and of Soveraigntie. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 108 The Spaniards, by the permission of the Counsell of Conscience, resolved upon it [i.e. assisting the Huguenots in France]. 1670 Lond. Gaz. No. 443/3 The Council of Ten..has forbidden all persons disguised to wear arms. 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5845/1 (Berne) April 24 Upon the Death of M. Steiguer, a Senator or Member of the Little Council of this Republick, the Sovereign Council of Two Hundred assembled..to fill up that Vacancy. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 322 The [Dutch] Government of the Cape is administer'd by eight Courts or Councils. 1. The Grand-Council, or College of Policy, which consists of the Governor, and eight of the Company's principal Officers. Ibid. 324 The Common-Council (of which there is one in every Colony) is chosen every year by the Grand-Council. 1777 Watson Philip II (1839) 135 This tribunal [the Duke of Alva's in the Netherlands] might well be called, as the Flemings termed it, the Council of Blood. 1808 Edin. Rev. XII. 389 The Council of Ten..had encroached so much on the authority of the Doge. 1827 Scott Napoleon ii, The Council of Ancients had the power of rejecting the propositions laid before them by the Council of Five Hundred. 1836 Penny Cycl. V. 125/2 The Council of Elders met at six o'clock in the morning of the 18 Brumaire at the Tuileries.

  10. The local administrative body of a corporate town or city; also (since 1888) of an English ‘administrative’ county or district; more fully described as borough council, town council, city council, county council or district council; cf. also Common Council, Select Council (15, below).

α 1428 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 3 Þe Mayr and þe Counsell of þe chambre. 1562 N. Winȝet Cert. Tractates (1888) I. iii. 26 To the honorable Prouest, Baillies, and Counsall of Edinburgh.

β 1474 Sc. Acts Jas. III (1597) §56 In Burrowes..there salbe of the auld Councell of the ȝeir before, foure worthy persones chosen ȝeirly to the new Councell. 1581 Savile Tacitus' Hist. ii. lii. (1591) 84 As they were in this perplexity, the councell of Mutina increased their cares. 1851 H. Martineau Hist. Peace (1877) III. v. iii. 232 The town council is the great ruling body of the borough. 1863 H. Cox Instit. iii. ix. 730 The members of a Town Council are the Mayor, Aldermen, and Councillors. 1888 Local Govt. Act in Whitaker's Almanac 582/1 The original bill..provided for the establishment of district councils subordinate to the new county councils..A measure will be introduced in 1889 providing for the establishment of district councils. Ibid. 582/2 As to the constitution of the county councils. In each administrative county a council consisting of a chairman, aldermen, and councillors, will be established to be entrusted with the ..administrative and financial business of the county. The council will be constituted much like the council of a borough divided into wards. Ibid. 584/2 The mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of each county borough acting by the council, shall be the county council for that borough.

  11. A body of men associated with the president (or directors) of a society or institution, to consult upon its business and share in its administration; a deliberative and administrative committee. [Latinized as concilium, though properly belonging to L. consilium: in F. conseil.]

[1662 Charter Roy. Soc. Erit societas de praeside concilio & sodalibus consistens, qui vocabuntur & nuncupabuntur Praeses, Concilium, & Sodales Regalis Societatis Londini, etc.] 1682 Grew Anat. Plants Pref., At a Meeting of the Council of the said [Royal] Society the following Order was made, and entred in their Council-Book. 1806 Med. Jrnl. XV. 291 The Medical Council of the Jennerian Society. 1842 Rules Philol. Soc. iii, The Council..shall consist of the President, the Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, 1 or 2 Honorary Secretaries, and twenty ordinary Members. 1844– Camden Soc. Publications Pref. note, The Council of the Camden Society desire it to be understood, that, etc. 1892 (title) The Metropolitan Auxiliary Council of the London Missionary Society.

  b. In University use.
  In the Scottish Universities, the General Council is the great deliberative body consisting of the members of the University Court, the professors, and graduates, corresponding in function to Convocation in the University of London. In the University of Oxford, the Hebdomadal Council is a representative board which consults upon and administers the business of the University, and takes the initiative in all matters to be brought before the Congregation and Convocation.

1854 Act 17–18 Vict. c. 81 (Oxf. Univ. Act) §5 Upon the 15th day of the said Michaelmas term 1854, there shall be elected..a council, which shall be called the hebdomadal council. Ibid. §6 If any person shall be elected a member of the hebdomadal council in two or more classes, he shall, when he first takes his seat in the council, declare under which class he desires to sit. 1873 Edin. Univ. Cal. 43 The General Council of this University, and the General Council of the University of St. Andrews jointly, return a Member of Parliament.

  12. In some of the Reformed churches: An advisory assembly of clerical, or clerical and lay, members.
  Congregational council, and National council, advisory or consultatory bodies organized by the Congregationalists in America. So London Nonconformist Council, etc.
  13. Council and Session (Sc.): see sense 7.
  14. council of war. a. An assembly of officers (military or naval) called to consult with the general or commanding officer, usually in a special emergency. Also transf. and fig.

1612–5 Bp. Hall Contempl., O.T. xix. i, They may call a council of war, and lay their heads together a 1671 Ld. Fairfax Mem. (1699) 72 We called a Council of war, wherein it was debated, whether we should attempt those in the works. 1855 Trollope Warden xiv, Generals in their councils of war did not consider more deeply.

fig. 1705 Vanbrugh Confed. ii. i, What a pretty little pair of amiable persons are there gone to hold a council of war together! Poor birds! 1850 W. B. Clarke Wreck Fav. 220 We then held a ‘council of war’, in which it was agreed that all should keep as close to the rocks as possible.

  b. In some foreign countries: A body forming a permanent advisory committee or board on military affairs.

1590 Sir R. Williams Briefe Disc. Warre 17 All these Counsailes of warres both in Spaine and abroad, are expert and principall Captaines. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xi. 33 The General of Achem..assembled his Councel of War, who were all of opinion that the commenced siege was to be continued. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 7 ¶18 The Emperor [of Austria]..has advanced..Count Henry Thaun to be..a Councellor of the Aulick Council of War. 1838 Penny Cycl. X. 65/1 [Prince Eugene] returned to Vienna, and was appointed president of the council of war.

  15. Common Council. a. Without special meaning: = General council; see 1.

c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 357 At þe commuyn conseil a day seint Gregori a-ros sone, And bad þe pope and is cardinales graunti him ane bone. a 1400–50 Alexander 5393 All spritis in þis spelonk here speke þai to-gedire, Here is þaire comon consaile.

  b. The administrative body of a corporate town or city; a town or city council. In England (since the Act of 1835) retained as a title only in the case of London; used in some cities in U.S.
  e.g. in Philadelphia the local authority now consists of the Select Council and Common Council, called together the Councils. The Common Council is mentioned in Penn's Charter of 25 Oct. 1701; the Select Council, formerly a court of Aldermen, appears in the Consolidation Act of 2 Feb. 1854.

α 1467 Ord. Worcester in Eng. Gilds 387 Yf eny of the xlviij. persones chosen and named for the comyn counsell of the seid cite, discouere eny maner thing that ys seid at hur comyn counselle. 1486 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 47 To the..common counesell of the citie of York. 1538 Starkey England i. i. 9 To lyue other vnder a prynce or a commyn counsel in cytes and townys.

β 1580 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 42 At the request of Mr. Mayor and his brethren, together with the consent of the Common Council there in the Common Hall assembled. 1682 Enq. Elect. Sheriffs 38 Sheriffs of London have been always chosen by the Mayor, Aldermen, Common-Council, and Livery-men. 1712 Lond. Gaz. No. 5040/7 An act passed at a Court of Common-Council held for the City of London. 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. V. 403 You see the dash which the Common Council of the city of London have made at me. 1889 Whitaker's Alm. 323 Officers of the City of London..Appointed by the Court of Common Council.

1887 City Govt. of Philadelphia 20 The Assembly for the transaction of business was called the Common Council. Ibid. 15, 70, etc.

  † c. A meeting of such a body. Obs.

1467 [see b above]. 1548 Hall Chron. 170 The Mayre on y⊇ next day..called a common counsaile. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 52 ¶4 As soon as he came into the Common Council.

  d. Hence Common councilman: see under council-man.
  16. Privy Council: see privy.
  17. Comb., as council-door, council-ground, council-seat; council-book, the book in which the acts of a council are registered; the register of privy-councillors; council-day, the day on which a council meets for deliberation; council-fire, a fire kindled by the North American Indians when in council; council flat, a flat (flat n.² 2) belonging to a council; council-general, a general or common council; council-hall, -room = council-chamber; council (housing) estate, a group of houses erected by a council (sense 10); council school, a school supported by a town or county council. See also council-board, -house, -man, -table.

1618 Sir L. Stukeley Petit. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 390 The publick act registered in the *Council-book. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. (1872) I. 324 Halifax was informed that his services were no longer needed, and his name was struck out of the council-book. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. III. xvii. 256 The declaration was projected, executed, and entered in the council-books without any previous notice to Pitt.

1664–5 Pepys Diary (1879) III. 121 Very constant he is on *council-days.

1682 Dryden Dk. of Guise v. i, To keep guards doubled at the *council-door.

1775 G. Johnson in Sparks Life Gouv. Morris (1832) I. 42 The Indians will not sit still, and see their *council-fire extinguished. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. III. x. 935 The Delawares, and the Shawnees, lighted the council-fire, smoked the calumet, and entreated for peace.

1941 H. Brighouse Hallowed Ground in J. Marriott Best One-Act Plays 1941 46, I wouldn't live in a *Council flat if you gave it me rent-free. 1958 Spectator 6 June 747/1 The Health Visitor finds them a council flat. 1970 T. Lewis Jack's Return Home 148 We were in the middle of a dozen blocks of tall council flats. They looked greyer than the day.

1817 Blackw. Mag. I. 191/1 A report made to the *council-general of hospitals in Paris. 1880 A. T. Drane St. Cath. of Siena 537 Let him call a Council-general (Consiglio Generale) of the chief citizens and listen to their advice.

1843 Marryat M. Violet xv, We were ..assembled at the *council-ground on the shores of the Buona Ventura.

1682 Dryden Dk. of Guise v. i, The *council-hall was hung with crimson round.

1939 ‘G. Orwell’ Coming up for Air iv. i. 219 Several acres of bright red rooves all exactly alike. A big *Council housing estate, by the look of it. 1958 Times 11 Aug. 2/6 The scene..is a post-war council estate.

1774 in Hist. MSS. Commission, 14th Rep. App. x: MSS. Dartmouth (1895) II. 244 Survey of the fireplace and chimneypiece of the *Council room at Fort George, New York. 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 117 The Duke of Wellington..had proposed that both parties should meet in the council room, and calmly discuss the question before the ministers.

1908 E. M. Sneyd-Kynnersley H.M.I. xxviii. 331 Other schools, both Board (or *Council) schools [etc.]. 1911 What an Education Committee can Do (Fabian Tract No. 156) 3 Some London council schools provide for five hundred and sixty pupils. 1925 W. Deeping Sorrell & Son i. i, The boy had had to go to a Council school. 1941 J. S. Huxley Uniqueness of Man ii. 46 The boys from a secondary school were on the average no less than 6½ inches..taller than those from a council school in a poor neighbourhood.

1725 Pope Odyss. viii. 5 Then to the *council-seat they bend their way. 1837 Wheelwright tr. Aristophanes II. 238 Nor is there any council-seat, for this Is the third day and midst of Ceres' feasts!

  
  
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   Add: [17.] council tax: in the U.K., a tax levied on householders by local authorities, calculated according to whichever of several bands the estimated capital value of a property falls into, and introduced in 1993 to replace the community charge (see *community n. 11 a).

1991 Daily Tel. 19 Apr. 2/3 Mr Major secured full Cabinet backing yesterday for a new local tax—expected to be called the *Council Tax—which will be based on a two-person household, with a discount for a single person living alone. 1992 Daily Mail 17 Aug. 12/1 The new council tax, designed to replace the community charge, is expected to be based on the 1990 value of properties.

Oxford English Dictionary