What is "rump parliament"

Parliament \Par"lia*ment\, n. [OE. parlement, F. parlement, fr. parler to speak; cf. LL. parlamentum, parliamentum. See Parley.]

1. A parleying; a discussion; a conference. [Obs.]

   But first they held their parliament.
   --Rom. of R.

2. A formal conference on public affairs; a general council; esp., an assembly of representatives of a nation or people having authority to make laws.

   They made request that it might be lawful for them to summon a parliament of Gauls.
   --Golding.

3. The assembly of the three estates of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, viz., the lords spiritual, lords temporal, and the representatives of the commons, sitting in the House of Lords and the House of Commons, constituting the legislature, when summoned by the royal authority to consult on the affairs of the nation, and to enact and repeal laws.

   Note: Thought the sovereign is a constituting branch of Parliament, the word is generally used to denote the three estates named above.

4. In France, before the Revolution of 1789, one of the several principal judicial courts.

   Parliament heel, the inclination of a ship when made to careen by shifting her cargo or ballast.

   Parliament hinge (Arch.), a hinge with so great a projection from the wall or frame as to allow a door or shutter to swing back flat against the wall.

   Long Parliament, Rump Parliament. See under Long, and Rump.

Rump \Rump\, n. [OE. rumpe; akin to D. romp trunk, body, LG. rump, G. rumpf, Dan. rumpe rump, Icel. rumpr, Sw. rumpa rump, tail.]

1. The end of the backbone of an animal, with the parts adjacent; the buttock or buttocks.

2. Among butchers, the piece of beef between the sirloin and the aitchbone piece. See Illust. of Beef.

3. Fig.: The hind or tail end; a fag-end; a remnant.

   Rump Parliament, or The Rump (Eng. Hist.), the remnant of the Long Parliament after the expulsion by Cromwell in 1648 of those who opposed his purposes. It was dissolved by Cromwell in 1653, but twice revived for brief sessions, ending finally in 1659.

   The Rump abolished the House of Lords, the army abolished the Rump, and by this army of saints Cromwell governed.
   --Swift.

   Rump steak, a beefsteak from the rump.
   --Goldsmith.

The Rump Parliament was the English Parliament after Colonel Thomas Pride purged the Long Parliament on 6 December 1648 of those members hostile to the Grandees' intention to try King Charles I for high treason.

"Rump" normally means the hind end of an animal; its use meaning "remnant" was first recorded in the above context in English. Since 1649, the term "rump parliament" has been used to refer to any parliament left over from the actual legitimate parliament.