bicameral

adjective

bi·​cam·​er·​al (ˌ)bī-ˈkam-rəl 

-ˈka-mə-

government : having, consisting of, or based on two legislative chambers (see chamber entry 1 sense 4a)

a bicameral legislature comprised of the House of Representatives and the Senate

bicameralism

(ˌ)bī-ˈkam-rə-ˌli-zəm 

-ˈka-mə-

noun

Examples of bicameral in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The bicameral Legislature is made up of the Senate, with 22 Democrats and 13 Republicans, and the House, which has 80 Democratic members and 68 Republicans. —Lawrence Richard, Fox News, 16 Apr. 2024

The bipartisan, bicameral bill, shared first with NBC News, was introduced by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden. —Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News, 7 Mar. 2024

Following the British parliamentary system that was in place in India until the country’s independence in 1947, India’s democracy is a multiparty parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature. —Astha Rajvanshi, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024

Get ready for a lobbying furor, because there’s suddenly a plausible, bipartisan, bicameral push to finally give the U.S. a comprehensive data-privacy law, going way beyond the protections for medical and children’s data that already apply country-wide. —David Meyer, Fortune, 8 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

bi- entry 1 + Late Latin camera chamber — more at chamber

First Known Use

circa 1832, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

bicameral

adjective

bi·​cam·​er·​al (ˈ)bī-ˈkam-(ə-)rəl 

: consisting of two legislative chambers

a bicameral legislature

Medical Definition

bicameral

adjective

bi·​cam·​er·​al (ˈ)bī-ˈkam-(ə-)rəl 

: having two chambers

Legal Definition

bicameral

adjective

bi·​cam·​er·​al ˌbī-ˈka-mə-rəl 

: having, consisting of, or based on two legislative chambers

a bicameral legislature

bicameralism

ˌbī-ˈka-mə-rə-ˌli-zəm 

noun

bicamerality

ˌbī-ˌka-mə-ˈra-lə-tē

noun